Japan’s NYK shipping company has signed a business alliance agreement with Nakashima Propeller and Fluid Techno to verify the effects of energy-saving devices that enhance vessel fuel efficiency by improving water flow generated at the aft-end of ships, select optimal combinations of those energy-saving devices, and install them on existing ships.
In accordance with this business alliance agreement, NYK aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing vessels by installing energy-saving devices on about 50 dry bulk carriers over the next three years.
Ships can generally operate with less energy as wave resistance and water-flow turbulence decrease, so various energy-saving devices have been developed in marine and shipbuilding industries. Although the effects of individual energy-saving devices have been verified by the marine equipment manufacturer that developed each device, an optimal combination of multiple energy-saving devices and verification of their synergistic effects has not yet been thoroughly researched. To address this issue, NYK will collaborate with Nakashima Propeller, a marine equipment manufacturer that develops and sells ship propellers as well as energy-saving devices, and Fluid Techno, a ship design company with fluid analysis technology.
This business alliance is seen as a pioneering attempt in the maritime industry, in which three companies will jointly work on the best mix of multiple energy-saving devices by utilising the knowledge and strengths of each company. Through this initiative, improvement of fuel efficiency by 1% to 8% and reduction of vessel GHG emissions are expected.
NYK’s strategy is to achieve net-zero emissions of GHG by 2050, not only through R&D of new zero-emission vessels but also improvement of fuel efficiency of vessels that use heavy oil as fuel.
