Naming and launching ceremony held for SUNFLOWER PIRKA

FerryThe naming and launching ceremony was held for the second of two 199.4m long LNG-fuelled ferries being built at the Naikai Zosen shipyard. Named SUNFLOWER PIRKA, it will be delivered in April 2025 and is slated to enter service on the late-night Oarai-Tomakomai route operated by MOL Sunflower in mid-2025.

The first ship of the two, SUNFLOWER KAMUY, is scheduled to enter service on the same route in early 2025.

With the addition of these vessels, the MOL Group will operate a fleet of four LNG-fuelled ferries on east-west routes in Japan by 2025, joining the SUNFLOWER KURENAI and SUNFLOWER MURASAKI, which went into service on the Osaka-Beppu route in 2023.

The vessel will be able to reduce CO₂ emissions by about 35% compared to currently in-service vessels on the Hokkaido route by adopting various state-of-the-art technologies in addition to LNG fuel, thereby contributing to the reduction of overall CO₂ emissions.

In addition, the MOL Group will promote Japan's "Modal Shift" and strive to solve the "2024 problem of logistics," by expanding the loading space for trucks compared to the currently in-service vessels and providing more comfortable space for truck drivers by making all cabins private rooms.

	Newbuilding ferries (plan)
Passenger capacity	157
Vehicles (units)	50
Truck loading capacity (units) (converted to 13m)	155
LOA	199.4m
Gross tonnage	About 15,600
Main engine	One low-speed engine
Main fuel	LNG (the vessel can also be operated on compliant fuel oil)