---

Japanese carrier NYK Lines, has revealed its concept for a low emission container freight vessel that the company says it wishes to have in service by 2030.

The NYK ‘Super Eco Ship 2030’ was designed in cooperation with the Monohakobi Technology Institute along with Garroni Progetti s.r.l, an Italian ship design firm, and Elomatic Marine, a Finnish marine-technology consultant.

"NYK Super Eco Ship 2030 will make use of progressive technologies that have the potential of being realized by 2030, " NTK said.

The vessel will be powered by Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) fuel cells solar cells, and wind power, all of which will lead to a reduction of CO2 by 69 percent per container carried, according to NYK.

The design also features a bow-mounted bubble projector to reduce friction as the ship moves through the water and it is proposed that the vessel will actually break into segments in port so as to facilitate freight handling and thus aid efficiency. NYK also proposes to decrease the weight of the hull and therefore reduce water friction and the amount of power needed to propel the ship.

NYK says that it plans for its fleet to produce zero emissions by 2050.

NYK and Nippon Oil Corporation jointly developed the solar power-assisted vessel Auriga Leader (gross tonnage: 60,213), which was named the ship of the year at the 2009 Lloyd’s List Global Awards.

The solar-power-assisted Auriga Leader, which is equipped with 328 solar panels, has been used to experiment with propulsion systems that run in part on solar power. The systems have been jointly developed by NYK and Nippon Oil Corporation.

Auriga Leader has recently completed its fourth voyage as part of a scheduled two-year experiment into how solar power can be used to assist with powering a vessel.

Solar power was able to provide 0.05 percent of the ship’s propulsion power and 1 percent of the electricity used on the vessel, such as for pumps and lights. This change will help reduce fuel consumption and consequent CO2 emissions.

"NYK and Nippon Oil Corporation plan to continue this experiment so that the use of clean solar power can be practically applied to powering seagoing vessels and thus help to reduce the carbon footprint of this efficient form of transport," NYK said earlier this year in a statement.