On October 28, NYK took delivery of Sakura Leader, a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) capable of navigating oceans with only LNG as the ship’s main fuel. This delivery marks a remarkable step toward achieving NYK’s environment management target, which is to reduce CO2 emissions per ton-kilometer of transport by 50% by 2050. The vessel was built at the Shin Kurushima Dockyard of Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.

The ship is the first large LNG-fueled PCTC to be built in Japan. Vessel modification and the switch to LNG will make the ship up to approximately 40% more energy efficient (by reducing CO2 emissions per unit of transport) compared to 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 to ships using conventional heavy oil fired engines. The vessel will be contributing to clean marine transport by carrying vehicles produced by the Toyota Motor Corporation and other car manufacturers.

Sakura Leader was selected as a model project by Japan’s Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and will receive support from the ministries for technical verification of CO2 emission reductions during actual voyages.

NYK is positioning LNG fuel as one of the bridge-solutions until future zero-emission ships are realized. NYK plans to switch all its newly built PCTCs to LNG-fueled vessels about a decade in the future, and is aiming to further advance to zero-emission vessels utilizing low-emission marine fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia from around the mid-2030s.

In accordance with its medium-term management plan “Staying Ahead 2022 with Digitalization and Green,” the NYK Group has incorporated environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in the company’s business strategies, and seeks to enhance the company’s corporate value as well as contribute to the sustainable development of society through business activities. Promoting replacement to next-generation eco-friendly ships in the PCTC fleet is one of the group’s activities.

※NYK Group is working to achieve the SDGs through its business activities, and this approach is one of the group’s initiatives.