VESSEL REVIEW | Sunflower Kamuy – MOL's newest LNG-fuelled ferry to serve Tokyo-Hokkaido route

Japanese shipbuilder Naikai Zosen Corporation has handed over a new Ro-Pax ferry ordered by Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) for operation by its subsidiary MOL Sunflower.

Named after the Ainu translation of “great power,” Sunflower Kamuy is the third LNG-fuelled ferry to join the MOL Sunflower fleet.

The newbuild has an LOA of 199.4 metres (654.1 feet), a beam of 28.6 metres (93.8 feet), a draught of 6.87 metres (22.5 feet), a depth of 22.15 metres (72.67 feet), a gross tonnage of 15,600, and capacity for 157 passengers, 50 cars and 155 trailers that each measure 13 metres (43 feet) long.

Greater passenger and vehicle capacities

The vessel’s gross tonnage is approximately double those of earlier MOL ferries. This then permits the incorporation of a greater number of cabins as well as an improvement in loading capacity.

The trailer capacity was significantly increased in response to what the Japanese government calls the “modal shift,” an expected rise in Ro-Ro cargo volumes as growing numbers of Japanese end users opt for ocean cargo transport as an alternative to long-distance trucking.

The propulsion system includes a Mitsui-MAN B&W 12S50ME-C8.5-GI 21,240kW (28,480hp) low-speed, two-stroke main engine that can run on either LNG or heavy oil and that can deliver a cruising speed of 24 knots. Also fitted are two bow thrusters and a pump jet.

The vessel is also able to generate up to 35 per cent fewer CO2 emissions compared to currently in-service vessels on the Hokkaido route through the adoption of various technologies in addition to LNG-fuelled engines, thereby contributing to the reduction of overall CO2 emissions.

Efficiency-enhancing hull design coupled with ample onboard amenities

The ferry is of an advanced design that features a streamlined shape with an aerodynamically-rounded bow and that can use diagonal headwinds to help propel the vessel. A fin stabiliser will meanwhile help minimise rolling while underway and a rectangular energy-saving device developed by Naikai Zosen will suppress resistance from waves and swells on the water surface, thereby improving energy efficiency.

The onboard facilities include cabins in various categories for use by passengers and lorry drivers, toilets, a bathhouse, a driver’s lounge, a shop/snack bar, a lobby, a gym, and a kennel (though some passenger cabins have been laid out for people travelling with small pets). All passenger and driver cabins are private to offer additional comfort.

The onboard spaces also feature barrier-free facilities to accommodate elderly and reduced mobility passengers. Loading and unloading of freight will meanwhile be done via starboard side ramps.

Sunflower Kamuy is the first vessel of a planned series of two ferries that MOL will operate along the route between Oarai near Tokyo and Tomakomai in Hokkaido island, with each one-way leg lasting approximately 18 hours. Sister vessel Sunflower Pirka is scheduled for delivery in April of this year.

With the addition of these vessels, the MOL Group will operate a fleet of four LNG-fuelled ferries on east-west routes in Japan by 2025. They will join Sunflower Kurenai and Sunflower Murasaki, which went into service on the Osaka-Beppu route in 2023.