NYK operates the vessel and transports coal from overseas to Kyuden’s coal-fired power plants. The use of LNG fuel offers excellent environmental performance compared with traditional marine fuels, virtually eliminating sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions, and reducing approximately 80% of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and 30% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Shoyo received its LNG-fuel supply at the port of Tobata (Fukuoka Prefecture) on 12 October. Bunkering was carried out via shore-to-ship, which supplies fuel directly from the handling facility on shore to the vessel. This was the first shore-to-ship bunkering for an oceangoing LNG-fuelled vessel in Japan. The ship is designed to be compatible with both shore-to-ship and ship-to-ship bunkering, the latter of which is the supply of LNG fuel from an LNG bunkering vessel to a ship. From March 2024, a newly built LNG-fuelled bunkering vessel based in the Setouchi and Kyushu area could deliver LNG fuel through ship-to-ship bunkering.
