IHI Corp. said Wednesday that it has developed a low-emission container ship that can run on liquefied natural gas in addition to the conventional fuel of heavy oil.
The vessel’s engine can take either heavy oil or LNG. IHI used proprietary technology to keep the LNG tanks small as a way of maximizing container transport capacity. When running solely on LNG, the ship produces no sulfur oxides and emits 80% less nitrogen oxides than a comparable heavy-oil-powered vessel, according to the firm.
Shipbuilders have been designing environmentally friendly vessels in preparation for the planned introduction of international emissions regulations for ships in 2016. Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. are developing vessels that use LNG as fuel. But LNG-powered ships suffer the drawback of higher initial costs than oil-powered vessels.
IHI intends to market the new container ships at home and abroad by promoting their lower operating costs over the long term compared with ships that run on oil alone.
