On September 29, NYK signed long-term time-charter contracts for four newly built liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers with NOVATEK Gas & Power Asia Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of PAO NOVATEK, through a joint venture with a group company of PAO Sovcomflot.

The newly built LNG carriers will be constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. and are slated for delivery from 2023 to 2024.

The vessels will be equipped with WinGD-made dual-fuel slow-speed diesel engines (i.e., X-DF diesel engines)* that have superior fuel-consumption efficiency and can operate on marine gas oil or boil-off gas stored in the cargo tank. Each ship will have a re-liquefaction unit on board that can use re-liquefied excess boil-off gas and return it to the cargo tank, in addition to a shaft generator system that uses the rotating propeller shaft for power generation.

Each vessel’s cargo tank will be a 174,000 cubic-meter-capacity membrane-type tank that will make use of advanced insulating materials** to suppress the boil-off rate (percentage of gas volume that vaporizes during navigation) in the cargo tank and realize superior efficiency and economical LNG transportation.

In accordance with its medium-term management plan “Staying Ahead 2022 with Digitalization and Green,” the NYK Group seeks to secure stable freight rates through long-term contracts and continue to encourage creative solutions in its efforts to contribute to stable energy transport services.

Outline of Vessels

• Length overall: approx. 293 meters
  Breadth: approx. 45.8 meters
  Cargo tank capacity: approx. 174,000 m3
  Main engine: X-DF engine
  Shipbuilder: Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.
  Delivery: 2023 – 2024

On February 3, NYK released the NYK Group ESG Story, which aims to further integrate ESG into the company’s management strategy and promotes activities that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) through business activities. To strongly promote ESG management, the NYK Group will encourage new value creation as a sustainable solution provider through a business strategy that includes the transport of LNG, which is expected to be a low-carbon bridge-fuel prior to the transition to future zero-emission fuels.

<NYK Group ESG Story>
A guideline detailing concrete efforts to integrate ESG into management strategies of the NYK Group.
Details: https://www.nyk.com/english/news/2021/esg-story_01.html

* A low-speed diesel engine having excellent fuel-consumption efficiency

** A Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) made tank having the GTT Mark III flex cargo containment system, which has insulating materials to suppress the boil-off rate

PAO Sovcomflot
Head Office: St. Petersburg, Russia
President & CEO: Igor Tonkovidov
Website: https://www.sovcomflot.ru/en/
A major Russian shipping company that has collaborated with NYK on various LNG projects, including the Sakhalin 2 LNG project.

PAO Novatek
Head Office: Tarko-Sale, Russia
CEO: Leonid Mikhelson
Website: https://www.novatek.ru/en/
A Russian independent natural gas production and sales company that has the second-largest natural gas production in Russia.