NYK Concludes Time Charter Agreement for Fuel Ammonia Transport

Developing a marine transportation system for future expansion of the fuel ammonia market

Dec. 06, 2023

In October, NYK signed a time charter contract with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Mitsui"; head office: Tokyo; president: Kenichi Hori) for the transport of ammonia. The vessel Berlian Ekuator, owned and operated by NYK, will be used for the shipments.

The vessel will transport fuel ammonia to be used by JERA Co., Inc. (hereinafter "JERA") in the world's first large-scale fuel-conversion demonstration test,* which will be conducted at unit 4 of JERA's Hekinan Thermal Power Station.

In June, Mitsui and JERA signed an ammonia sales and purchase agreement to be used in the demonstration test.

Through this agreement, NYK will contribute to the global energy transition by accumulating practical knowledge on the handling of ammonia and developing a marine transportation system for the future expansion of the fuel ammonia market.

Outline of the Ship
Ship's name : Berlian Ekuator
Length overall : 169.9 meters
Breadth : 27.4 meters
Deadweight tonnage : approx. 35,500 cubic meters
Year built : 2004
Flag : Panama


Image by NYK Group

In the "NYK Group ESG Story 2023" published in November, we set new targets that include a "45% reduction of the NYK Group's GHG (Scope 1+2) emissions by FY2030 (versus FY2021)" and "Total net-zero GHG (Scope 1+2+3) emissions by FY2050 for the NYK Group." To achieve these goals, we are working to establish a fuel ammonia value chain, including research and development of ships fueled by ammonia, which emits no carbon dioxide (CO2) when burned. The NYK Group will continue to actively participate in the ammonia supply chain from upstream to downstream to contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society.

* World's first large-scale fuel-conversion demonstration test
JERA's Hekinan Thermal Power Station Unit 4 (power output: 1 million kW) plans to demonstrate a test of 20% fuel substitution with ammonia in fiscal 2023. This will be the world's first demonstration project to use a large amount of fuel ammonia in a large commercial coal-fired power plant. The project is subsidized by Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

NYK Group, press release