MOL Reveal Latest Bulk Shipping Concept

JAPAN – Shipping line and fleet operator Mitsui O.S.K. (MOL) has revealed details on the third and latest of it ISHIN next-generation ship development programs which aim to radically cut the environmental impact of the shipping industry with the use of cutting edge technology.

The ISHIN III concept is for an environment-friendly, large-scale iron ore carrier which MOL believes could help set the future standard for future resource transport vessels and much development work and testing of concepts has already been undertaken on MOL’s very large iron ore carrier the 320,000 DWT Brasil Maru , which was delivered in 2007 and featured maximum energy saving as a core design factor.

MOL will now take the lessons learnt from the Brasil Maru and add two additional key features to the ISHIN III concept; Waste heat energy recovery to assist propulsion and reduction of CO2 emissions even at low speeds.

By combining heat energy captured from the ship’s exhaust with a turbocharger that runs at low rpm’s, MOL believe they can achieve a thirty percent decrease in carbon emissions over existing vessels.

In addition, the use of solar panels, which are also featured on the previous ISHIN I-and-II concepts, as well as integration of technology developed under MOL’s “Wind Challenger” program could see carbon reductions for the ISHIN III stand at fifty percent lower than current bulk vessels.

http://www.molpower.com/