NYK Bulkship (Asia) Pte. Ltd., an NYK Group company based in Singapore, has signed a long-term time charter contract with Waterfront Shipping Company Limited (WFS)* for two newly built chemical carriers. The new ships will each be equipped with a dual-fuel engine that enables the vessels to be powered not only by marine fuel oil but also methanol, which is a clean-burning, eco-friendly fuel. After delivery from the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (Korea) in 2022, the vessels will be delivered to WFS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Methanex Corporation, the world’s largest producer and supplier of methanol. Both vessels will be managed by the NYK Group company NYK Shipmanagement Pte. Ltd (NYKSM).

The dual-fuel engine for the new ships will be an eco-friendly engine that reduces sulphur oxides (SOx) by approximately 99 percent, in addition to reductions to particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). This environmental specification enables the vessels to meet important environmental regulations of international shipping, such as SOx Global Cap regulations** set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Subsequent to the first such ship delivered in 2019, the new ships will be the second and third methanol carriers under management of NYKSM to be equipped with dual fuel engines. The NYK Group will further accumulate know-how on the management of methanol carriers and utilize it to contribute to eco-friendly transportation.

The NYK Group will continue to secure business with stable freight rates through long-term contracts and contribute to realizing a sustainable society that will make use of technology that can reduce negative impacts on the environment. Also, 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 sustainable development of society through business activities.

* Waterfront Shipping Company Limited (WFS)
Waterfront Shipping, a wholly owned subsidiary of Methanex Corporation, is a global marine transportation company specializing in the safe, responsible and reliable transport of bulk chemicals and clean petroleum products to major international markets in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America. Waterfront Shipping operates the world's largest methanol ocean tanker fleet with its fleet comprising vessels from 3,000 to 50,000 dwt. Its fleet of modern, deep sea tankers forms a seamless transportation network dedicated to keeping an uninterrupted flow of methanol moving to storage terminals and customers' plant sites around the world. For more information, please visit https://www.wfs-cl.com/ .

** SOx Global Cap regulations
SOx emission regulations based on the 2008 amendment of the 1997 protocol on ship pollution prevention (Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention). From January 1, 2020, the allowable limit of sulfur in ship fuel oil was reduced from 3.5% to 0.5%.