The NYK Group receives award for excellence at 40th Environmental Awards
Nippon Yusen Kaisha and the Monohakobi Technology Institute (MTI) , an NYK Group company, have received an award for excellence at the 40th Environmental Awards jointly sponsored by the Hitachi Environment Foundation and Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun Ltd. The award was presented in recognition of the NYK Group’s development and operation of an energy-saving air-lubrication system for vessels, specifically because "global environmental preservation can be expected by the further progress and spread of this technology." This new technology effectively reduces the frictional resistance between a vessel’s bottom and the seawater by means of bubbles generated by air released from the bottom of the vessel. The awards ceremony was held on June 12 and was attended by NYK representative director and senior managing corporate officer Naoya Tazawa and MTI president Yutaka Yasunaga.
The award was established in 1974 under the auspices of the Ministry of the Environment to honor individuals, groups, and organizations for their outstanding achievements in research, development, and other activities that have contributed to promoting sustainable development and preservation of the environment.
In 2010, an air-lubrication system featuring a blower to provide air to the vessel bottom was permanently installed on two vessels operated by an NYK Group company, marking the first permanent installation of such a system within the shipping industry. Over the next two years, CO2 emissions from these vessels fell by an average of 6 percent during sea passages. In 2012, an air-lubrication system featuring a scavenging-air bypass to provide air to the vessel bottom, a system more suitable for larger vessels having deeper drafts, was installed on a coal carrier for the first time and, depending on the amount of cargo carried, CO2 emissions were 4–8 percent less.
The air-lubrication system was also awarded Japan’s 2012 Minister of the Environment Award and was a finalist for the Clean Shipping Award at the 2013 Seatrade Awards.* The system has received significant recognition both in Japan and abroad.
The NYK Group will continue to encourage initiatives for the development of energy-saving technology that addresses climate change by actively advancing the installation of this air-lubrication system on car carriers and other types of vessels.