Hokkaido News

NYK Line has ordered a crew transfer vessel (CTV) for offshore wind industry from Kosaba Shipbuilding Corporation, the first such order the company placed to a local Japanese shipyard.Following delivery in late 2025 or 2026, the vessel will be used to transport technicians to construct and maintain offshore wind power generation facilities offshore Japan.The vessels will be 28 meters long, and capable of accommodating 12 passengers.By expanding its fleet of CTVs, NYK aims to play an active role in promoting sustainable energy.

NYK Group’s Hokuyo Kaiun has received certifications from ClassNK for the safety management system (SMS) of its crew transport vessel (CTV) for the offshore wind industry.The certifications, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018, were obtained by combining the experience of Hokuyo Kaiun, which operates and manages the CTV Rera As for the Ishikari Bay New Port offshore wind farm in Hokkaido Prefecture, with the knowledge of NYK.This certification will enable Hokuyo Kaiun, which mainly operates towing vessels in Japan…

NYK has delivered Rera As, an NYK-owned crew transport vessel (CTV), to Siemens Gamesa for the Ishikari Bay New Port offshore wind farm.The ClassNK certified vessel is the first CTV owned and operated by the NYK Group and is largest gross tonnage CTV currently in operation in Japan (according to NYK research). NYK Group's Hokuyo Kaiun will manage and operate the vessel.The vessel was completed in Singapore in April, and it was reflaged to Japan after equipment modifications, such as fenders and radio equipment…

NYK, as a member of a consortium of four companies (also including: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.; Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.; and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.) has been selected by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in an open call for applications related to the "Development of basic technologies for a multi-purpose and multi-terminal high voltage direct current transmission system,” in addition to the “development of construction methods for the installation of cable protecting system…

MOL and partners have completed a trial of bioLNG (liquefied bio-methane or LBM) derived from cattle manure on the domestic LNG fueled general cargo vessel Ise Mirai.Teaming up on the project with MOL were Air Water Inc., Techno Chubu Company, Kyoudou Kaiun,The trial, conducted in Ise Bay, was Japan's first bunkering of carbon-neutral LBM derived from biomass. The vessel was jointly built by MOL Coastal Shipping, Techno Chubu, and Kyoudou Kaiun, and was delivered in December 2020.

Japan-based company PowerX has unveiled the detailed design of the first-ever ‘Battery Tanker’ at an exhibition in Imabari City, Japan. The inaugural ship “X” aims for completion by 2025, with domestic and international field testing planned to start in 2026. This electric propulsion vessel will be 140 meters long and will be equipped with 96 containerized marine batteries, providing a total capacity of 241MWh. "The onboard battery system is based on our proprietary module design, featuring safe and reliable lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells that ensure a lifespan over 6,000 cycles.

A new crew transfer vessel (CTV) for the Ishikari Bay New Port offshore wind farm in Hokkaido Prefecture arrived in Japan from Singapore on April 19, Japan's NYK has informed. The vessel is named “Rera As.”After completing its sea trials, the vessel was delivered in Singapore and transported to Honmoku Pier in Yokohama port by Kifune, a heavy-lift carrier operated by NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers Ltd. After being discharged, the crew transfer vessel was towed to the Oppama factory of Keihin Dock Co. Ltd.

Last week  at the Wind Expo Spring 2023 in Tokyo, NYK announced the name of a crew transfer vessel (CTV) for the Ishikari Bay New Port offshore wind farm, for which NYK has a multi-year time charter contract with Siemens Gamesa.At the naming presentation with James Tham, managing director of Penguin Shipyard International, and Tsutomu Yokoyama, general manager of NYK’s Green Business Group, NYK explained that "Rera As" means "the wind blows" in the language of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido…

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) said it is seeking to use cattle manure as part of its strategy to reduce vessel emissions.The company announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Air Water Inc. to study the use of liquefied biomethane (LBM) derived from cattle manure in vessels fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG).MOL, which has set a target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, has been accelerating the deployment…

Siemens Gamesa and the Japanese shipping and logistics company NYK have signed a time charter contract for a crew transfer vessel (CTV) that will be used at an offshore wind farm in Japan.The CTV will be owned by NYK and managed by Hokkaido-based Hokuyo Kaiun Co., Ltd., an NYK Group company. The vessel will be engaged in transporting workers to the offshore wind farm at Ishikari Bay New Port in Japan, which is scheduled to start commercial operation in December 2023.The Ishikari Bay New Port offshore wind farm project is being developed by Green Power Ishikari LLC…

Japan located on Friday the hull of a tour boat off its northern coast, media said, six days after the vessel disappeared in an accident that killed at least 14 people on a sightseeing trip.The hull of the "Kazu I" was identified in waters about 100 meters (328 ft) deep off the Shiretoko peninsula on the northern island of Hokkaido in footage from an underwater camera of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, broadcaster NHK said.A coast guard official was not immediately able to confirm the reports that the vessel had been found…

Inquiries began into what caused the disappearance of a tour boat off Japan's northern coast as search efforts intensified on Monday to find the vessel and its missing passengers, with the confirmed death toll rising to 11.The "Kazu I" left harbor on Saturday for a sightseeing trip when it ran into trouble off the Shiretoko peninsula on the island of Hokkaido. The boat was carrying 24 passengers, including 2 children, and two crew members. Only a few orange flotation devices bearing…

Japan's military said on Thursday that it had spotted four large Russian amphibious warfare ships sailing close to its islands as they traveled west, possibly towards Europe.Pictures of the amphibious transports, typically used for landing expeditionary forces ashore, published by Japan's defense ministry showed what appeared to be military trucks loaded onto the deck of one of the vessels."We don't know where they are heading, but their heading suggest it is possible," a Japanese defense ministry spokesman said.

Russian and Chinese warships held their first joint patrols in the western Pacific Ocean over the past week, Russia's defense ministry said on Saturday, a move Japan said it was monitoring.Moscow and Beijing, which staged naval cooperation drills in the Sea of Japan earlier in October, have cultivated closer military and diplomatic ties in recent years at a time when their relations with the West have soured.The naval maneuvers, which Russia said ran from Sunday through Saturday…

A group of 10 naval vessels from China and Russia sailed through a strait separating Japan's main island and its northern island of Hokkaido on Monday, the Japanese government said, adding that it is closely watching such activities.It was the first time Japan has confirmed the passage of Chinese and Russian naval vessels sailing together through the Tsugaru Strait, which separates the Sea of Japan from the Pacific.While the strait is regarded as international waters, Japan's ties with China have long been plagued by conflicting claims over a group of tiny East China Sea islets.

Japan's Nippon Yusen subsidiary NYK Cruises Co said on Friday that its luxury cruise ship Asuka II was returning to port after a passenger tested positive for the coronavirus.The ship's 295 passengers and 425 crew members will reach Yokohama, just south of Tokyo, around Saturday noon, an NYK Cruises spokeswoman said.All passengers tested negative prior to the cruise, but the company conducted another round of tests at its boarding reception on Thursday, she said.The infected passenger is stable and recovering in a cabin that has been isolated, NYK said in a statement, adding that only one other person had been in close contact.The ship had been scheduled to stop at Aomori and Hokkaido prefectures and return to port on May 5.In February last year…

U.S. oil and gas major Chevron has signed a deal with Japan's Hokkaido Gas Co., Ltd. for the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Chevron’s global LNG portfolio to Japan's Hokkaido area.Under the agreement, Chevron will supply Hokkaido Gas with about a half million tons of LNG over a period of five years starting April 2022.“We are delighted to design and execute a Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with our new partner Hokkaido Gas that will bring Chevron LNG directly to Hokkaido, a key growth area.

Domestic and international lenders are vying for a slice of Japan’s nascent offshore wind power sector, which is expected to provide as much as ¥3trn (US$29bn) in project financing opportunities, albeit at very low margins.Akita Offshore Wind completed the nation’s first fundraising for a major offshore wind project last month, raising ¥80bn to build wind turbines near two ports in western Japan.Auctions for sites off Japan's shores are due to kick off in April, and lenders are…

Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) has taken delivery of a coal carrier equipped with a binary cycle power-generation system that utilizes engine exhaust heat.The new coal carrier Pirika Mosiri Maru that NYK will own and operate to transport coal for Hokkaido Electric Power(HEPCO), was delivered yesterday (January 23) at Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Saikai city, Nagasaki prefecture, and a delivery ceremony was held on the same day.The event was attended by Akihiko Mayumi, president and director of HEPCO and NYK president Tadaaki Naito, among others.Pirika Mosiri Maru, as the third generation ship, will take on the mission that has been handed down from the first-generation vessel named Sapporo Maru which was delivered in 1984 as HEPCO’s first coal ship…

Russian state-controlled shipowner Sovcomflot (SCF) has named the 174,000m³ SCF La Perouse - the first of three LNG tankers on order with South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).The LNG carrier named after Jean-François de la Pérouse, a French explorer of the Pacific.The vessel will operate under a long-term time charter agreement with Total. The event was held at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries’ shipyard, Republic of Korea. Fleur-Eve Durin le Foll, the spouse of Total’s Country Chair Russia, is the vessel’s sponsor.Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PAO Sovcomflot, said: “Sovcomflot and Total have enjoyed a strong partnership for many years, and we are happy to have an opportunity to expand this cooperation.

Japanese hydrocarbon exploration, production and transportation company, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (JAPEX) has started the exploratory drilling at offshore Hidaka area of Hokkaido.The drilling job is a part of the offshore exploration project commissioned by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (ANRE).This project is aiming to evaluate the presence of oil and natural gas resources in the area based on the analysis to be conducted through the result from this exploration well.The location of the exploration well is approximately 50 kilometers offshore of Hidaka area of Hokkaido with the depth of approximately 1…

As the Japan Coast Guard celebrates its 70th anniversary, Maritime Reporter & Engineering News offers insights on the current status and future direction of the JCG courtesy of an interview with Shuichi Iwanami, Commandant, Japan Coast Guard.*Note: At the time this interview was conducted, Shuichi Iwanami was still Vice Commandant for Operations.Could you please tell us the history and future development of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG)?The JCG, in 2018 celebrates the 70th anniversary of its foundation. When it was founded, the Japanese waters were in an eclipse period.

Malaysian state-owned oilcompany Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) through its subsidiary, Malaysia LNG (MLNG) delivered its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to Japan's Hokkaido Electric Power on August 1st, 2018.This delivery marks the beginning of MLNG's supply to Hokkaido Electric via a 10-year Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) signed on 2 March 2017.Hokkaido Electric will be utilising the cargo for the commissioning of its LNG tank at Ishikari Terminal. The cargo was delivered from Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak to Ishikari by Puteri Delima Satu, the LNG vessel chartered by MLNG and operated by Petronas' subsidiary MISC Bhd.