Japan’s IINO Kaiun Kaisha (IINO Lines) has placed an order for what is said to be “Japan’s first methanol dual-fuel crude oil tanker” at compatriot Nihon Shipyard, a joint venture of Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United Corporation.
The vessel is scheduled to be completed in 2027 and it has decided to be allocated for a charter contract with Idemitsu Tanker.
The vessel can use methanol as fuel in addition to conventional fuel oil, and is equipped with a shaft generator that generates electricity by utilizing the rotation of the main propeller shaft. This significantly reduces ship-derived air pollutants such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM). This initiative embodies one of the key strategies in IINO Lines’s mid-term management plan, Formulation and Implementation of Plan to Realize of a Decarbonized Society.
IINO Lines has been engaged in crude oil transportation since the construction of its first crude oil tanker, the Takatori Maru No. 1, in 1929 and Japan’s largest ocean-going crude oil tanker, the Fujisan Maru, in 1931.
It is worth mentioning that in June this year, IINO Lines ordered a dual-fuel very large gas carrier (VLGC) and plans to lease it with Borealis, an Austrian-based advanced and sustainable polyolefin solutions provider.
The VLGC, with a cargo capacity of 93,000 cubic meters, is known as the “world’s first ice-class IB VLGC” and will transport raw materials to Borealis’ petrochemical plant in Porvoo, Finland.