NYK has taken delivery of Plumeria Leader, a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) capable of navigating oceans with only LNG as its main fuel. The vessel was built at the Shin Kurushima Dockyard of Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding. It is NYK’s second LNG-fueled car carrier, following the Sakura Leader.
Thanks to vessel modifications and the switch to LNG, Plumeria Leader aims to achieve energy efficiency savings of approximately 40% (by reducing CO2 emissions per unit of transport) compared with ships using conventional heavy oil-fired engines. The vessel is also expected to reduce sulfur oxide (SOX ) emissions by approximately 99% and nitrogen oxides (NOX ) by approximately 86% compared with ships using conventional heavy oil-fired engines.
Plumeria Leader will be one of the world’s largest PCTCs, capable of transporting approximately 7,000 units (standard vehicle equivalent) per voyage, beginning with vehicles produced by the Toyota Motor Corporation.
NYK’s company strategy is to position LNG fuel as one of the bridging solutions until future zero-emission ships are realized. The company plans to have 20 new LNG-fueled car carriers in its fleet by 2028. As soon as technological innovation progresses, NYK aims to switch to zero-emission vessels utilizing low-emission marine fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia.