Hybrid Car Carrier launch scheduled for June 2012

News Release MOL (Europe) B.V. (European Head Office) July 15, 2011

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–Design of
Hybrid Car Carrier Aiming at Zero Emissions While
Berthed Determined
–
 
 
ROTTERDAM, 14 July
2011 –
Mitsui O.S.K.
Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Koichi Muto) today announced the exterior and basic
design of the hybrid car carrier aiming at zero emissions while berthed had been
determined. As a “project that develops systems to reduce CO2
emissions from ocean-going vessels”, the vessel earned MOL a subsidy from
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) in 2009.
The vessel will be launched at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Kobe
shipyard in June 2012.
 
The vessel will be equipped
with a hybrid electric power supply system that combines solar power panels for
generation with lithium-ion batteries for power storage. The system is the
result of a cooperative study group of experts from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,
Sanyo Electric Group, and MOL. With solar panels on every bit of
flat, exposed upper deck space, this system generates some 160kW, more than ten
times as much as current systems on other ships, making it the most powerful
system of its type in the world.
 
The lithium-ion batteries can store
some 2.2MWh of electricity, and the power generated by the panels while the ship
is under way is stored in the batteries and used to power the ship’s systems
while it is berthed. The system eliminates the need for diesel-powered
generators, enabling the ship to achieve zero emissions at the pier. In
addition, the lithium-ion batteries are placed in the bottom of the vessel,
taking the place of fixed ballast*, so they have no effect on the number of
vehicles the vessel can carry.
 
The logo SOLAR HYBRID is painted on
the sides of the vessel near the stern to identify its hybrid system and its use
of natural energy.
 
 
Vessel Specifications
Capacity: 6,400 vehicles (standard
passenger cars)
LOA: 199.0 m
Beam: 32.26 m
Draft: 9.725 m
 
 
The development of this vessel was
subsidized by the MLIT as a “project that develops systems to reduce
CO2 emissions from ocean-going vessels”, and it is supported as a
“cooperative development project to reduce greenhouse gases produced by ocean
shipping” from the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai.
 
The power supply system represents a
significant step forward in realizing ISHIN-I, the concept for the
next-generation car carrier that we announced in September 2009. MOL will
continue our aggressive development of technologies that will help reduce the
burden on the environment caused by ocean-going vessels.
 
* Weights or tanks placed in the
bottom of the vessel to help ensure its stability under way. Usually,
ocean-going vessels use seawater as ballast.
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