bp and Japanese shipping company NYK Line have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on future fuels and transportation solutions to help industrial sectors, including shipping, decarbonise.

For shipping, the companies will collaborate and identify opportunities to help transition from current marine fuels to alternatives such as liquified natural gas (LNG), biofuels, and methanol, and to develop future fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen. Getting this journey right will be critical to enabling the shipping industry to meet its long-term decarbonisation ambitions.

For other hard-to-abate industrial sectors, the two companies will also consider potential marine transportation and other solutions for carbon dioxide, and explore participation in the supply chains for ammonia and hydrogen to be used in heavy industry and power generation, to help those sectors to decarbonise.

Shipping is core to global trading activities. For the world to decarbonise, shipping must decarbonise, and as one of the world’s largest shipping and logistics companies, NYK Line is seeking to lead decarbonisation efforts in the industry through collaboration with bp.

William Lin, Executive Vice President for regions, cities and solutions at bp said the two companies have a combined experience of almost 250 years working in the shipping sector, strong existing relationships and a shared understanding of the need for the marine industry to decarbonise.

“By bringing together our technical expertise, understanding of the supply chain, and insights from our customers, I am confident that together we can do more to drive change at pace in hard-to-abate sectors,” Mr Lin said.

Akira Kono, Senior Managing Executive Officer and Chief Executive of Energy Division, NYK Line, said that NYK Line is very pleased to enter into a strategic partnership with bp.

“We look forward to developing even more valuable solutions in the field of decarbonisation. By combining bp’s technological expertise and worldwide network in integrated energy with NYK Line’s expertise and technology as one of the world’s largest shipping and logistics companies, we hope to become a leader in the decarbonisation of the shipping industry,” Mr Kono said.