The ammonia-fuelled tugboat ‘Sakigake’ has been completed by NYK and IHI Power Systems in cooperation with Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK).
NYK believes this is the world’s first ammonia-fuelled vessel for commercial use. NYK Group company Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha will employ the vessel in tugboat operations in Tokyo Bay over a three-month demonstration period. Sakigake was a Green Innovation Fund project initiated in October 2021 under Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to develop vessels equipped with domestically produced ammonia-fuelled engines.
The predecessor, an LNG-fuelled tugboat of the same name, was completed in August 2015 as the first LNG-fuelled vessel in Japan. After eight years of tug service in Tokyo Bay, the vessel was docked at the NYK Group’s Keihin Dock for conversion to ammonia fuel. The main engine and associated systems were replaced with the machinery and systems required for ammonia, and sea trials were conducted successfully with the new fuel. The completed vessel has taken the name Sakigake, hoping it will be a pioneer of ammonia-fuelled vessels, in the same way as for LNG fuel.
As part of the development of vessels equipped with domestically produced ammonia engines through NEDO’s Green Innovation Fund project, NYK is conducting further research and development on an ammonia-fuelled medium gas carrier (AFMGC) with Japan Engine Corporation, Nihon Shipyard, IHI Power Systems and ClassNK. This vessel is scheduled for delivery in November 2026.
Image: Ammonia-fuelled tug ‘Sakigake’ (source: NYK)
