Biofuel blender featured onboard new Japanese tugboat

The Bisan Maru naming and launching ceremony. (Photo: K Line)

A naming and launching ceremony was held April 22 in Japan for a newly built tugboat ordered by Seagate Corp. Co. Ltd., a consolidated subsidiary of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K Line), from Kanagawa Dockyard Co. Ltd.

The tugboat was named Bisan Maru.

In the future, the vessel will undergo interior work, and then it is scheduled to come into service at the Port of Mizushima in Okayama Prefecture in August.

The vessel is equipped with a conventional diesel-engine propulsion system using marine fuel oil, but it is the first Japanese tugboat to be equipped with a biofuel blender and an ultrasonic hull antifouling system.

Using both of these systems, the vessel’s CO2 emissions will be less than those of conventional vessels.

The biofuel blender installed in the vessel manufactured by Conhira Co. Ltd. is capable of blending marine fuel oil and biofuel at the blending ratio of choice between zero and 100 percent.

According to K Line, this system paves the way for the stable production of fuel that includes biofuel at the desired blending ratio onboard the vessel, even when the ship is in places where it is difficult for bunkering ships to supply blended biofuel.

The ultrasonic hull antifouling system is manufactured by M-Sat LLC out of Tokyo and uses ultrasonic waves to hinder marine organisms’ adhesion to the hull and mitigate the deterioration of fuel efficiency due to hull fouling.

This system was developed for an electric-hybrid tug scheduled to be completed in 2027.

To verify the system in an operational environment, it was first installed in the Bisan Maru.

Under the group’s long-term environmental policy, K Line is advancing the research, development and implementation of environmental technologies.

Going forward, K Line said it will continue to work together to promote initiatives toward low-carbon and decarbonized operations.