Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has announced plans to order a new LNG-fueled very large crude carrier (VLCC) for long-term time charter to Idemitsu Tanker Co., Ltd. Scheduled for delivery in 2027, this will be the first dual-fuel VLCC chartered to a Japanese oil company.
The vessel will be constructed at Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. (DACKS), a joint venture between Kawasaki Heavy Industries and China COSCO Shipping Corporation in Dalian, China. It will be the first dual-fuel VLCC to be chartered to a Japanese oil company with delivery slated for 2027.
The cost of the new vessel has not been disclosed. The overall length is approximately 339.50 meters and width is approximately 60.0 meters with carrying capacity approximately 309,000 tons.
MOL established the “MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.2” with the target of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. LNG fuel reduces carbon dioxide emissions by about 25%-30% compared to conventional fuel oil. To achieve sustainable decarbonization of the shipping industry, MOL is proactively adopting LNG as a low-carbon fuel, marking a major step toward zero emissions and a decarbonized shipping industry. The company aims to operate 90 LNG/methanol-fueled vessels by 2030.
It currently has about 40 LNG-fueled vessels in its fleet -six of them are VLCCs, including this newly ordered vessel. By entering this long-term time charter contract with Idemitsu Tanker, MOL seeks to spearhead the broader adoption of LNG fuels and contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the shipping industry.
According to incomplete statistics, MOL has ordered six LNG dual-fuel VLCCs from DACKS.
In August 2022, MOL ordered two 309,000 dwt LNG dual-fuel VLCCs from DACKS, becoming the first shipowner in Japan to order LNG dual-fuel VLCCs. It was also the first time MOL confirmed an order for VLCCs since June 2021, and is expected to be delivered between 2025 and 2026. With this order, DACKS became the second shipyard in China and the fourth in the world to build dual-fuel VLCCs.
In February 2023, MOL returned to DACKS to place an additional order for two 309,000 DWT LNG dual-fuel VLCCs, which are scheduled to be delivered in July and December 2026, with a cost of approximately US$130 million each. In December 2024, the two parties again cooperated to build two VLCCs of the same type, with a cost of approximately US$150 million each, which are expected to be delivered between the third quarter of 2027 and the first quarter of 2028.
The official website shows that DACKS is the second modernized large-scale shipbuilding enterprise invested and constructed by COSCO Shipping Group and Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries, with the ratio of shares of the Chinese and Japanese sides being 51:49.