Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has built and delivered an LNG bunkering vessel with dual-fuel engines to the Yamatomachi Shipyard in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
According to the company, this is is Japan’s first LNG bunkering vessel equipped with a dual-fuel engine that can use both LNG and heavy oil as fuel for the main power generation system.
Japan’s first LNG bunkering vessel
The vessel, named KEYS Azalea, has a LOA of 82.4m, a beam of 18.2m and a draft of 4.8m. Alongside this, it has a gross tonnage of 4,744 tons, and an LNG loadable capacity of 3,500m3.
Mitsubishi Shipbuilding’s vessel will provide domestic coastal transportation of LNG to consumers in the Kyushu and Setouchi areas and LNG bunkering for oceangoing vessels calling ports in the region. The construction of the ship was funded by a subsidy adopted under MLIT’s FY2021 LNG Bunkering Base Formation Project.
KEYS Azalea ceremony
To celebrate the delivery, a ceremony for the LNG bunkering vessel was held on March 28, 2024, at the Yamatomachi Shipyard of Mitsubishi Shipbuilding in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Officials from KEYS Bunkering West Japan Corporation (KEYS) and Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) attended and prayed for the vessel’s safe voyage.
KEYS, a joint venture established by Kyushu Electric Power, NYK Line, Itochu Enex and Saibu Gas, will operate the vessel in the Kyushu and Setouchi areas. KEYS, and its four constituent companies, plan to continue reducing greenhouse gas emissions toward realizing a carbon-neutral society.
In related news, Seaspan Energy recently launched the first of three 7,600m3 LNG bunkering vessels, the Seaspan Garibaldi. Click here to read the full story.