Japanese company Kawasaki Heavy Industries announced on Tuesday that it had signed a contract with Japanese company Suiso Energy to build the world’s largest liquefied hydrogen tanker, with a capacity of 40 000 cubic meters.
According to AZERTAC, the vessel will be built at Kawasaki’s Sakaida plant in western Japan.
In 2021, Kawasaki built the world’s first liquefied hydrogen tanker, the Suiso Frontier, with a capacity of 1250 cubic meters. The following year, it participated in a pilot demonstration project between Japan and Australia, demonstrating the feasibility of safely exporting liquefied hydrogen to Japan.
The company stated that the new vessel is designed to meet projected global hydrogen demand in the 2030s and support the development of a commercial hydrogen supply chain.
Kawasaki Heavy said it aims to replicate its success as a major maker of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers by using hydrogen, an element that could help decarbonize industry and drive the global energy transition.
