Kawasaki Heavy Industries has delivered the Tsurugidake — a 309,000-tonne very large crude carrier (VLCC) — to Sequoia Navigation Inc., marking the fourth LNG-fuelled VLCC built by the Kawasaki Group.

The vessel, with Kawasaki hull number 8100, was built at the Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. (DACKS) shipyard in Dalian, China, a facility operated jointly by Kawasaki and China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, with delivery taking place on 14 October.

Tsurugidake is fitted with a dual-fuel main engine — a MAN B&W 7G80ME-C10.5-GI-HPSCR diesel engine — capable of running on either LNG or low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO). When operating on LNG, the vessel's emissions are expected to fall by approximately 25–30% for carbon dioxide (CO₂), 100% for sulphur oxides (SOx) and approximately 85% for nitrogen oxides (NOx), compared with conventional heavy-oil-fuelled main engines.

Kawasaki said the vessel complies with Phase 3 of the International Maritime Organization's Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), which applies to VLCCs contracted from fiscal year 2025 onwards and requires a 30% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared with the Phase 0 baseline.

The vessel is also fitted with SOx scrubbers at the exhaust gas outlets of the main engine and power-generation system, enabling the ship to meet sulphur emission regulations that came into force in January 2020 while continuing to use conventional fuel oil in a move designed to reduce fuel costs by removing the need to use low-sulphur fuel to meet those regulations.

Kawasaki said the design departs from the conventional bulbous bow, instead using a bow form that extends the vessel's length at the waterline. According to the company, this reduces wave-making resistance from bow waves during navigation, improving propulsive performance. The vessel also combines a low-speed, ultra-long-stroke main engine with a high-efficiency, large-diameter propeller, which Kawasaki said lowers fuel consumption.

The VLCC measures 339.50 metres in length overall, 60.00 metres in breadth and 28.90 metres in depth, with a moulded draught of 21.03 metres. It has a deadweight of 310,020 tonnes, a gross tonnage of 166,708 and a cargo tank capacity of 352,151 cubic metres. It is classed by ClassNK and registered in Panama, with a sea speed of approximately 15.45 knots.