NYK enters collaboration to reduce GHG emissions from existing ships

On July 7, NYK signed a business alliance agreement with Nakashima Propeller and Fluid Techno to verify the effects of energy-saving devices that enhance vessel fuel efficiency by improving water flow generated at the aft-end of ships, select optimal combinations of those energy-saving devices, and install them on existing ships. 

In accordance with this business alliance agreement, NYK aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing vessels by installing energy-saving devices on about 50 dry bulk carriers over the next three years.

Ships can generally operate with less energy as wave resistance and water-flow turbulence decrease, so various energy-saving devices have been developed in marine and shipbuilding industries. Although the effects of individual energy-saving devices have been verified by the marine equipment manufacturer that developed each device, an optimal combination of multiple energy-saving devices and verification of their synergistic effects have not been thoroughly researched.

To address this issue, NYK will collaborate with Nakashima Propeller, a marine equipment manufacturer that develops and sells ship propellers as well as energy-saving devices, and Fluid Techno, a ship design company with fluid analysis technology.

This business alliance can be said to be a pioneering attempt in the maritime industry, in which three companies will jointly work on the best mix of multiple energy-saving devices by utilizing the knowledge and strengths of each company. Through this initiative, improvement of fuel efficiency by one to eight percent and reduction of vessel GHG emissions are expected.