Japan's NYK, GCMD sign 5-year agreement for low-carbon shipping collaboration
SINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) — Japan’s leading shipping company NYK has signed a 5-year contract with the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) to collaborate on low-carbon solutions for shipping.
NYK will join the GCMD as a strategic partner, after previously conducting trials on biofuels and starting projects on ammonia bunkering, the centre said in a statement on Tuesday.
NYK’s ongoing ammonia bunkering projects include the retrofit of an LNG-fuelled tugboat with an ammonia-fuelled engine, which is expected to commence operations in 2024.
It was also the first Japanese shipper to obtain an approval-in-principle for an ammonia bunkering vessel, and aims to deliver an ammonia-fuelled gas carrier by 2026.
NYK had in February conducted a biofuel bunkering trial, using a fuel consisting of 24% biofuel (B24) blended with very-low sulphur fuel oil.
The trial is the second of five supply chains of a pilot with GCMD and paves the way for a green premium cost-benefit analysis of deploying biofuels.
The GCMD, a Singapore-based non-profit organisation, aims to help the shipping industry eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by shaping standards for future fuels and piloting low-carbon solutions, according to its website. (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”