Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ) and ClassNK established "Zero-Emission Accelerating Ship Finance (Program)" to support the maritime industry's transition toward decarbonisation.
As tightened environmental regulations and the future introduction of carbon pricing are expected in the maritime industry, DBJ and ClassNK have anticipated an increasing need for a system to reasonably evaluate the asset value of environmentally friendly ships and to combine them with investment and financing, and brought together each knowledge and expertise.
Comprehensive scoring model-based evaluation
Under the established Program, ClassNK evaluates ships based on a comprehensive scoring model jointly developed by DBJ from the perspective of "decarbonisation, environmentally friendly performance, and innovativeness," and DBJ provides investment and financing.
As the first project under the Program, ClassNK evaluated the LPG dual-fueled large LPG carrier, “CRYSTAL OASIS” (IMO No. 9915806) owned by Kumiai Navigation (Pte) Ltd, and DBJ provided a loan to Kumiai to finance its acquisition.
LPG dual-fueled large LPG carrier
Kumiai has been taking progressive steps toward the transition to decarbonisation
Kumiai is a Japanese shipowner based in Singapore and has been taking progressive steps toward the transition to decarbonisation, such as placing orders for LPG dual-fueled LPG carriers ahead of other industry players.
The ship is a state-of-the-art LPG dual-fueled large LPG carrier built at Sakaide Works of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. and delivered to Kumiai in June 2022.
Criteria for evaluation
In evaluating the ship, the following factors were taken into account:
- The dual-fuel main engine using LPG has realised a significant reduction of sulfur oxide (SOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the exhaust gas, and the ship has been certified to be compliant with the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) Phase 3 requirements achieved prior to the enforcement of the regulation;
- The installation of an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system and a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system has enabled the ship to meet the nitrogen oxide (NOx) Tier III regulation; and
- In further consideration of preventing air and marine pollution, the ship is equipped with various environmental technologies not mandated by international conventions. It is assigned ClassNK’s "Environmental Awareness (EA)" and "Advanced Environmental Awareness (a-EA)" notation, which is to be provided to the ships implementing special and advanced environmental measures.
S-rating
The ship was given with "S" rating, the highest rank in the Program as “the ship with particularly high decarbonisation, environmentally friendly performance and innovativeness”, recognising that adequate environment-related investments have been made.
Through the expansion of the Program, DBJ and ClassNK will support shipping companies’ efforts to contribute to the transition toward decarbonisation and work together to accelerate the transition toward decarbonisation in the entire maritime industry.