Sunflower Kamuy, a newbuild ferry operated by MOL Sunflower, a group company of Japanese shipping major Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), has officially entered service as the first LNG-fueled ferry on the Oarai-Tomakomai route between Ibaraki Prefecture and Hokkaido.
The LNG-powered ferry, which was built by Naikai Zosen Corporation, started service on January 21, 2025.
According to MOL, the newbuild adopts “various state-of-the-art technologies” , such as the Ishin ship design which utilizes lift from oblique headwinds as propulsive power, and the Spray Tearing Plate (STEP) energy-saving device developed by Naikai Zosen Corporation and other companies, in addition to the installation of high-propulsion engines, which mainly use LNG as a fuel.
This is said to reduce CO2 emissions by about 35% compared to current vessels in service.
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Sunflower Kamuy is part of the MOL Group’s initiative to operate a fleet of four LNG-fueled ferries on east-west routes in Japan by 2025, joining the Sunflower Kurenai and Sunflower Murasaki , which went into service on the Osaka-Beppu route in 2023.
Their sister vessel Sunflower Pirka is scheduled to enter service in early summer 2025.
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The MOL Group is targeting net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, and is promoting the wider adoption of LNG fuel through development and advancement of an LNG fuel supply system in Japan and overseas as part of the strategy.
The group plans to cut its total GHG emissions by expanding its LNG-fueled fleet with additional vessels bringing the total to about 90 LNG-fueled vessels by 2030.