Seagate Corporation, a subsidiary of the Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), held a naming and launching ceremony for its newest tug on Wednesday, April 22.
Bisan Maru is being built by Kanagawa Dockyard. The tug will soon begin undergoing interior work and is scheduled to enter service at the Port of Mizushima in Okayama Prefecture in August of this year.
The tug will be equipped with a conventional diesel engine, though K Line said she will be the first Japanese tug to be equipped with a biofuel blender and an ultrasonic hull anti-fouling system. The company said that, when using both of these systems, the vessel’s CO2 emissions will be lower than those of conventionally powered vessels.
The biofuel blender installed in the tug will be capable of blending marine fuel oil and biofuel at the blending ratio of choice between zero and 100 per cent. K Line said this system will help facilitate the stable production of fuel that includes biofuel at the desired blending ratio on board the vessel, even when she is in areas where it would be difficult for bunkering ships to supply blended biofuel.
The ultrasonic hull anti-fouling system will meanwhile use ultrasonic waves to hinder marine organisms’ adhesion to the hull and mitigate the deterioration of fuel efficiency due to hull fouling. This system was developed for a hybrid electric tug scheduled to be completed in 2027.
