Close ties with the Earth

CO₂ emissions increasing along with expanding maritime transport

Ships have long been praised as a mode of transport that offers high energy efficiency and low CO₂ emissions. But as maritime traffic has increased over the past 30 years, CO₂ emissions have doubled. To address this situation, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is promoting a new treaty aimed at curtailing CO₂ emissions, and this has spurred calls for the development of ships that emit less CO₂. In response MHI is bringing to bear its experience and technologies cultivated over more than a century of shipbuilding to develop "eco-ships" that will reduce environmental impact in various ways.

World maritime transport volume and CO₂ emissions

	Fiscal 1990	Fiscal 1995	Fiscal 2000	Fiscal 2005
Transport volume	4,173 million tons	4,827 million tons	5,910 million tons	7,267 million tons
CO2 emissions	354.77 million tons	408.72 million tons	468.61 million tons	522.28 million tons
	Fiscal 2006	Fiscal 2007	Fiscal 2008
Transport volume	7,643 million tons	7,954 million tons	8,150 million tons
CO2 emissions	556.62 million tons	589.09 million tons	578.20 million tons

Sources: CO₂ Emissions from Fuel Combustion Highlights (2010 Edition), International Energy Agency; Autumn 2010 Shipping Review Database, Clarkson Research Services
(Note1) Several of the environmental technologies employed on the AURIGA LEADER were developed in collaboration with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha.

MALS-14000CS eco-ship reducing CO₂ emissions during transport by 35 percent

MHI completed the conceptual design of its New Panamax class2 container ship, the MALS-14000CS, in October 2010. This eco-ship achieves a 35 percent decrease in CO₂ emissions per container.

2 New Panamax class: This is the maximum size of ship (366.0 meters long by 48.8 meters wide with a draft of 15.2 meters) designed to fit through the expanded Panama Canal, where enlargement is scheduled to be completed in 2014.

Percentage reduction in CO₂ emissions by the MALS-14000CS eco-ship

• This graph compares CO₂ emissions per 20-foot container transported.
• In this graph, 100 percent is the standard value for ships in the same class by MHI's calculation.

Latest energy-saving technology and an innovative ideas

Cutting CO₂ emissions 10 percent by reducing water friction

Reducing the frictional drag on the hull of a ship saves fuel and lowers CO₂ emissions. To achieve this, MHI developed the Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System (MALS), which reduces frictional drag by introducing air bubbles by air blower into the water around the bottom of a ship's hull, covering the ship in bubbles. By arranging the air blowhole location and shape and controlling the air volume, the lubrication effect has been enhanced, reducing CO₂ emissions per container transportation by 10 percent.
This system has already been introduced on module carriers, and has been proven to reduce CO₂ emissions significantly.

Creating a layer of air between the hull of the ship and the surrounding water reduces frictional drag on the hull.

Preventing loss of propulsive power and raising load efficiency have cut CO₂ emissions by 24 percent

The ship's hull form must be optimally designed for the vessel's intended position in water, which is determined according to the ship's speed, length and width and the weight of its cargo.
For the MALS-14000CS, MHI ran numerous simulations and offers outstanding performance by the optimal hull form. We also adopted a new type of propulsion plant with twin engines and shafts. This twin-engine/shaft design uses twin propulsion units to drive two screws. Compared with a conventional plant that uses single engine and single shaft, the twin setup offers improved propeller efficiency while maintaining the same resistance level, thereby delivering more propulsive power.
We also introduced two ideas to raise load efficiency and thereby increase the number of containers the ship could carry. The first idea was to lead the exhaust pipes to the stern of the ship, eliminating the space conventionally occupied by the exhaust pipes and their casing. The new configuration enables containers to be loaded above the engine room.
The second idea was to move the bridge to the bow of the ship. On conventional container ships, the number of loadable containers is limited to the height that will allow a clear view from the bridge, but with our new design the bridge location has allowed the entire deck space to be used more efficiently, increasing the number of containers that could be loaded onto the ship. The new design also allows for storage of containers beneath the ship's living quarters.
As a result of these changes, we succeeded in reducing CO₂ emissions per container transported by 24 percent.

Exhaust pile leading to the stern

Containers stored below living quarters

CO₂ reduced by 5 percent through use of waste heat

The propulsion plant used by the MALS-14000CS contains electronically controlled engines and a waste heat recovery system. Compared with conventional mechanically controlled engines, these engines offer improved fuel efficiency by controlling the fuel injection amount and timing electronically. The waste heat recovery system, which was developed through cooperation between the Shipbuilding & Ocean Development Headquarters and the Power Systems Headquarters, recovers waste heat generated by the engine and uses it effectively to generate electricity.
These improvements together enable a reduction in CO₂ emissions per container transported by 5 percent.

Employing a variety of technologies to reduce ships' environmental impact

Protecting marine ecosystems
To improve the safety of cargo vessels during voyages without cargo, seawater is pumped into their tanks to serve as ballast in the unloading port when the cargo is being discharged. This water is pumped out into the sea again when the ship reaches its loading port. On international routes, however, the foreign plankton and bacteria that are expelled along with the ballast seawater can affect marine ecosystems.
To address this issue, MHI worked with Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd., to develop a ballast water purification system. This system employs magnetic force to attract microorganisms when seawater is being taken on, using a coagulation and magnetic-separation method to eliminate organisms from the inflow. As this system uses no biological toxins or chemicals, it leaves behind no residue that might pollute the surrounding water.

Process of eliminating plankton, bacteria, etc.

Applying more than a century of shipbuilding technology to support safe, long-term vessel operation

A giant crane installing an engine into place

Some of the ships that MHI builds exceed 300 meters in length and 40 meters in width. As such ships are not mass-produced, each one is shaped differently. Building ships of this class requires technologies to process steel plates 6 centimeters or more in thickness to a high degree of precision, and to install massive engines weighing more than 1,500 tons with accuracy down to 1/100th of a millimeter.
MHI has perfected its shipbuilding technologies over more than a century. Supporting the safe, long-term operation of vessels this way translates to lengthening the service life of ships and, by extension, avoiding wasteful use of resources.

Our responsibilities and our actions

Our aim is to contribute to our customers and society by applying our comprehensive strengths toward the ongoing development of eco-ships.

Takashi Unseki
Ship & Ocean Engineering Division
Shipbuilding & Ocean Development

As the engineer in charge of this project, I focused on improving the fuel performance of the propulsion plant and raising container carrying capacity. These efforts succeeded in reducing CO₂ emissions, but our work isn't finished here. I still hope to enhance environmental performance further from a variety of perspectives, such as also reducing SOx and NOx emissions.
Going forward, we will exploit the comprehensive strengths of MHI, which has various kinds of specialized technologies involving engines, waste heat recovery and electrical systems, to promote the ongoing development of eco-ships.

Expectations of MHI

A Real Sense of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Shipbuilding Technologies and Responsiveness

Mr. Alexander Maresca
Head Manager, Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works
Wilhelmsen Marine Consultants

The fact that I have been working in Nagasaki and with Mitsubishi since 2004 attest to the reality that we have the very best of working relations with Mitsubishi, both as a team and I personally.
In 2003, I was asked to join the PCTC project at Mitsubishi in Nagasaki. I had the best of memories of Nagasaki as well as a close relation with MHI from Taronga's time. Since then I have worked in close cooperation with Mitsubishi on the 10-vessel PCTC project and now on the Mark V project.
The first vessel, the TØNSBERG, was delivered on March 18 and departed the same day. During this time all of us at the site felt that we received tremendous goodwill and solid understanding of our problems and issues. Mitsubishi exercised great flexibility in addressing the challenges of building the world's largest ro/ro vessels. Everyone at Mitsubishi lived up to the challenge, and Mitsubishi showed clearly that they are the best at building these complicated vessels. No doubt in this.
What can be improved? It is not my place to say so, but as the question has come up: Try to think outside the box. Innovation is not a set of rules and regulations. Innovation happens outside of these parameters and is only contained by rules and regulations. I understand that these are needed, but they address only the minimum. I guess you do not have to print this, but it is my personal opinion and experience.

MHI's multifaceted shipbuilding experience
In 1857, MHI started Japan's first repair facility for naval ships in Nagasaki. Since then, the shipyard has constructed some 5,300 ships, including cruise ships, cargo vessels and research ships.

Cruise ship

LNG carrier

Deep sea drilling vessel