January 11, 2006
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. ("K" Line) takes pleasure in announcing that M/V "Guangzhou Highway", an ocean car carrier with capacity to transport 5,000 units has been completed at Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. (NACKS).
She is the last in a 3-ship series of carriers that are being equipped for the very first time in any of the ships in our current fleet with such an environmentally-friendly electronic-controlled engine. The 1st ship in this series, "Shanghai Highway", entered service in August 2005, followed by the "Tianjin Highway" in November 2005, both of which can be proudly reported as performing very well.
NACKS, the shipbuilder of "Guangzhou Highway", is a joint venture between Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation and China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co. (COSCO), operating under the technical guidance of Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation and is highly regarded in China as an excellent shipbuilding company.
Following the same pattern as in the 2 previous ships, we adopted new hull structure and equipment, whereas onboard this latest new building, additional arrangements were made to also install low-sulfur fuel and bunker oil tanks in compliance with MARPOL.
The above allocation is expected to enhance and further strengthen protection of the tanks from damage when and if the hull is damaged. This new concept is aimed to relatively lessen risk of marine pollution including oil spillage accident as compared with traditional ship types.
This electronic-controlled engine is designed to take electronic control of timing of fuel injection and timing of opening/closing of exhaust valves. It contributes to reduction in emission of NOx (Nitrogen Oxides), lowering PM (particulate matter) and CO2 in low-load operation, and upgrading ship maneuverability in slow speed required in navigational zones.
Onboard soot removal system is installed for the purpose of removing PM (particulate matter) in exhaust gases. More precisely, our target is to have exhaust gases from ships be as clean as possible, and effectively prevent onboard soot from spreading towards the shore or onto wharves. Effectiveness of this soot removal system has already been substantiated in the operations of "Shanghai Highway" and "Tianjin Highway".
Extending even greater and more friendly awareness to the importance of our earthly environment, we have adopted environmentally-friendly R404A (with zero coefficient of depletion of the ozone layer) as the refrigerant for onboard refrigerators and air-conditioners.
We installed onboard low-sulfur fuel oil tanks in addition to conventional ones.
These features demonstrate our strong intention to comply with MARPOL 73/78 Annex VI (Regulation for the prevention of air pollution from ship) through our adhering to a flexible and expansive engineering prospective.
Length overall: 179.99 m
Breadth moulded: 32.2 m
Depth (free board): 14.98 m
Deadweight tonnage: 15,000 mt