Ishin tugboat equipped with Yanmar dual engine fuel for reduced environmental load

Osaka Bay’s first LNG (liquefied natural gas) tugboat, “Ishin” was completed at Kobe Port on February 27, 2019 and since March 2020, has been working in Osaka Bay and the Seto Inland Sea guiding large vessels in the area.

The tugboat was completed by Mitsui O.S.K Lines., Ltd. (MOL), a major shipping company in Japan, less than two years after the decision was made to commence construction in 2017. Yanmar supplied two marine dual fuel engines (6EY26DF), as well as the fuel supply system which included the LNG fuel tank, buffer tank, and gas fuel device.

Kanagawa Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., the largest tugboat manufacturer in Japan, was involved in the construction, and Nippon Tug-boat Co., Ltd., a group company of MOL, handles operation. MOL and Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. will establish the first LNG fuel supply system for ships in Osaka Bay at Sakai Senboku Port, and LNG fuel will be supplied truck-to-ship from an LNG tanker on the land side.

“This ship realizes our corporate philosophy of reducing environmental load, and was launched to meet the demands of the times for global environmental conservation,” said Koichi Yashima, Managing Executive Officer of MOL. “We would like to learn from the operation of this vessel and expand the LNG-related business.”

Tetsuro Nishio, president of Nihon Tug-boat Co., Ltd., which operates the tug said: “It is thanks to the efforts of everyone involved that we have got to this point. As a company, we will work as one to ensure the safe operation of the tugboat.”

Takehito Ikoma, president of Kanagawa Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., which built the tug, said: “We’re a shipyard that has always been about work boats and we really came together as a company to build this vessel.”

This article was originally published on Marine & Industrial Report newspaper Vol 43  No.1  Issue last February 28, 2021.