Top Page > Press Release 2019 > LNG-fueled Tugboat Ishin Marks 1st Bunkering of LNG Fuel in Kansai Region

LNG-fueled Tugboat Ishin Marks 1st Bunkering of LNG Fuel in Kansai Region

January 31, 2019

ISHIN NEXTTOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Junichiro Ikeda) today announced that its LNG-fueled tugboat Ishin (*1) bunkered LNG fuel in Sakai Senboku Port for the first time, in preparation for test operation. MOL ordered the vessel from Kanagawa Dockyard Co., Ltd. (President: Takehito Ikoma, headquarters: Hyogo-ku, Kobe). This is the first bunkering of LNG as a vessel fuel at any port in the Kansai region.

The LNG fuel was supplied by Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (President: Takehiro Honjo, headquarters: Chuo-ku, Osaka) using a truck-to-ship LNG bunkering procedure (*2). After test sailing with LNG fuel, the Ishin is slated for delivery in late February, and will start operation in April as the first LNG-fueled tugboat serving Osaka Bay. The Ishin will be operated by Nihon Tug-Boat Co., Ltd. (President: Tetsuro Nishio, headquarters: Chuo-ku, Kobe).

Working closely with the Osaka Prefecture Port and Harbor Bureau and Osaka Gas, MOL has worked to develop an LNG fuel supply system for ships in Sakai Senboku Port, which will be the first in Osaka Bay, through development of the Ishin. The MOL Group continually contributes to widening the use of LNG fuel for ships (*3) and reducing their environmental impact (*4) by building upon the safe and efficient operation of the Ishin.


Bunkering LNG fuel


LNG-fueled tugboat Ishin

[Outline of Ishin]

Gross tonnage 250 tons
Length About 43.6m
Breadth About 9.20m
Draft About 3.15m
Speed 16.0 knots or higher
Main engine 2 Yanmar 6EY26DF dual-fuel commercial marine engines

(*1) For details, please refer to the press release on May 23, 2017:
MOL Sets Sights on Construction of LNG-fueled Tugboat.

(*2) The truck-to-ship LNG bunkering procedure supplies LNG fuel from an LNG truck on shore.

(*3) MOL established the Bunker Business Office (now Division) to accelerate its initiatives on LNG and other alternative vessel fuels, and is taking an integrated approach to entering the business of supplying LNG and other fuels. For details, please refer to the press release on February 24, 2017:
MOL to Restructure Organization

(*4) The Ishin's excellent environmental performance – including an estimated 25% reduction of CO2 emissions in comparison to tugs that run on A fuel oil – earned the top rating of four stars from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's energy-saving rating scheme for Japan's costal ships.