ONE’s first owned dual-fuel vessel sails to Latin America
The ship is set to arrive in Mexico by mid-April.
Ocean Network Express Holdings, Ltd. (ONE) has deployed its first owned and operated newly built container vessel that will connect various ports in Asia to Latin America.
ONE Sparkle, a 13,800 twenty-foot equivalent unit container ship built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea, will play a key role in meeting the company’s emission targets whilst enhancing its service reliability, Koshiro Wake, executive vice president for corporate and strategy at ONE, told Marine & Industrial Report.
The Singapore-flagged ship, which is managed by OneSea Solutions Pte. Ltd. — a ship management company owned by ONE and Seaspan Corp. — left Yokohama Port in Japan on 31 March and is expected to reach Ensenada Port in Mexico on 15 April after its naming ceremony in February.
Data from market researcher TradeImex showed that Mexico’s biggest trading partners last year were China, which accounted for 19.1% of the total import share, followed by Japan (3.4%), South Korea (3.3%), Taiwan (2.4%), Malaysia (2%), and Vietnam (1.9%).
Wake said ONE Sparkle is methanol- and ammonia-ready for future conversion to alternative fuels. It also has an advanced hull design “for better hydrodynamic performance and reduced fuel consumption, enhanced nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide scrubbing capabilities, advanced exhaust gas cleaning system, as well as additional reefer plugs.”
The ship sports the latest generation energy-saving devices and shore power connection capabilities for zero-emission port stays, according to ONE’s website.
Wake said it is too early to estimate ONE Sparkle’s impact on revenue generation and emission reduction, which would depend on operational conditions and trade routes.
“We expect a positive impact on fuel expenses due to the vessel's enhanced operational efficiency,” he said. “We expect lower carbon emissions versus conventional vessels of similar size.”
Methanol producer Methanex Corp. has said the fuel could help cut sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by over 95% and 80%, respectively, versus vessels running on traditional marine fuel.
Ammonia, meanwhile, is virtually free of sulphur oxide and particulate matter emissions, contributing to cleaner air quality, according to Lloyd's Register of Shipping. When produced using renewable energy, greenhouse gas emission can be cut by as much as 90%.
“There is a greater movement towards dual fuel, in the expectation that in the future, we will have to transition to green fuels,” Wake said, noting that ONE seeks to expand its fleet of future-ready vessels.
ONE Sparkle is part of a series of 20 large ammonia- and methanol-ready vessels that will be built in Korea and Japan and scheduled for delivery in 2025 and 2026.
