Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is to order a new LNG-fuelled very large crude carrier (VLCC) to sail under a long-term time charter contract with Idemitsu Tanker Co of Tokyo.
This will be the first dual-fuel VLCC to be chartered to a Japanese oil company, and will be built at Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS), Dalian, China, which is jointly operated by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and China Cosco Shipping Corporation, with delivery scheduled for 2027. The ship will be about 339.5m in length, 60m wide, and about 309,000 dwt.
MOL’s Group Environmental Vision aims to achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2050, and MOL is proactively adopting LNG as a low-carbon fuel which reduces CO2 emissions by about 25%-30% compared to conventional fuel oil. The company aims to operate 90 LNG/methanol-fuelled vessels by 2030. It currently has about 40 LNG-fuelled vessels in its fleet -six of them are VLCCs, including this newly ordered vessel.
Image: LNG dual-fuel VLCC (source: MOL)
