Safety First in Japan for Key Ship-to-Ship Fueling Device
Japan’s NYK Line, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, has signed an agreement with compatriot TB Global Technologies to develop the country’s first ship-to-ship bunkering boom for ammonia.
A bunkering boom is a highly durable, easy to operate device consisting of rigid pipes and hoses that connect a bunkering vessel to another vessel to supply it fuel.
The agreement between NYK and TBG, a manufacturer of cargo handling equipment for crude oil, liquefied natural gas, or LNG, and other liquids, will boost the safety of supplying ammonia by preventing leakages of the highly toxic fuel.
Ammonia is deemed as a key future fuel in the maritime industry’s bid to decarbonize.
NYK already operates Japan’s first LNG bunkering vessel.
“TBG will receive from NYK data related to the development of its ammonia bunkering vessel, which received approval in principle from ClassNK in September 2022. NYK will also share with TBG the knowledge gained from Japan’s first LNG bunkering vessel, Kaguya, which is operated by Central LNG Marine Fuel Japan Corporation, an NYK affiliate,” NYK said in a filing.
NYK’s Green Earth brand underscores the carrier’s ESG efforts to create new value initiatives for low carbon and decarbonization through green business initiatives such as the development of next-generation fuels.
Project cargo handler NYK Bulk & Projects, a division of NYK, will be exhibiting at Breakbulk Americas 2023, taking place on 26-28 September at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.
PHOTO: 3D model of bunkering boom for ammonia. CREDIT: NYK Line
