Tokyo-based shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) revealed Sept. 13 that it has an agreement in place with multinational energy corporation Chevron to install the Wind Challenger, a hard sail wind-assisted ship propulsion system, on a new build LNG carrier under long term charter from an MOL subsidiary to Chevron Asia Pacific Shipping Pte. Ltd.
The system was developed by MOL and Oshima Shipbuilding, and the vessel’s addition of it would mark the world’s first LNG (liquified natural gas) carrier equipped with Wind-Assisted Ship Propulsion Systems, according to MOL.
Wind Challenger is expected to help reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by using its unique telescopic sails.
The vessel that it will be installed on is currently under construction at a shipyard in Geoje, South Korea and is scheduled for delivery in 2026.
“(W)e are delighted to be able to extend the Wind Challenger Project to LNG carriers in addition to the two delivered Wind Challenger-equipped bulkers and other ongoing projects,” MOL President and CEO Takeshi Hashimoto said. “Achieving GHG reduction in the maritime transport of LNG, which is increasingly in demand worldwide as a transition fuel, is a very important mission for us.”
“This project will undoubtedly be a significant milestone towards achieving net zero GHG emissions by 2050, a medium- to long-term goal of the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Group,” Hashimoto said.
In other news, MOL has, through its wholly-owned subsidiary MOL Clean Energy, invested in HIF Global LLC, a Houston-based company developing and operating e-Fuels projects globally.
In a Sept. 20 announcement of the deal, MOL said that HIF has a production target of about four million tons per year of synthetic fuel and synthetic methanol from green hydrogen derived from renewable energy sources and recycled CO2 in four countries: the U.S., Chile, Uruguay and Australia.
MOL said that e-Fuels and e-Methanol are expected to achieve “swift and broad application,” because they can make “immediate and significant” contributions to reducing the carbon footprint of the entire product life cycle, from production through use of the product.
HIF Global is to start with the production of e-Gasoline and e-Methanol, and is targeting the future production of synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) and synthetic chemicals. e-Methanol is also expected to be adopted as an alternative marine fuel that will contribute to the decarbonization of the shipping industry, MOL said.
“With this investment in HIF Global, MOL will further promote the establishment of a supply chain for e-Fuels and CO2, setting the stage to decarbonize all types of mobility,” the shipper said.