The Ship of the Year Award 2020 given by the Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers (JASNAOE) had 13 candidate vessels to choose from this year, the 31st year of the annual event. The Ship of the Year award is given to innovative vessels built in the past year based on technical, artistic, and social considerations.
The candidate announcement meeting and the selection meeting for the Ship of the Year Award 2020 were held on May 11 as a web conference due to the constraints of COVID-19, and the SAKURA LEADER built by Shin Kurushima Dockyard Co., Ltd. was the winner of the Award 2020, as the first large LNG dual-fueled vehicle carrier built in Japan.
Other winners of individual sectors were the SEA SPICA (Small passenger ship sector), KAGUYA (Small cargo ship sector), SOFUKU MARU NO. 1 (Fishing/fishery research ship sector), and KAWASAKI (Work vessel/special service ship sector). The prize award ceremony, a joint event organized by the three academic societies in the maritime science sector, took place at the Kaiun Club on July 9. The three societies are the JASNAOE, Japan Institute of Marine Engineering (JIME), and Japan Institute of Navigation (JIN).
(by courtesy of SEA-Japan)
The SAKURA LEADER is the first large LNG dualfueled vehicle carrier built in Japan fitted with with two 1,500m³ LNG fuel tanks. The ship has attained 40% reduction of CO₂ emissions compared with the 2008 reference value. ClassNK has granted the class notation of Digital Smart Ship (DSS) to the carrier, the first worldwide.The SAKURA LEADER is an advanced ship designed for both environment conservation and onboard digitalization.Inboard rampways facilitate the improved roll-on/off of vehicles.
The SEA SPICIA has been built as the first cruising ship to promote tourism in the area of the Seto Inland Sea, assisted by the Railway Construction/Transportation Facility Development Support Organization under its Domestic System to Build Cruising Ships. Setonaikaikisen Inc. group, West Japan Railway Company group, and Chugoku Transport & Tourism Bureau of MLIT also agreed in cooperation of the ship construction. The cruising ship provides lounge sofa-like seats and the deck banishes daily life on land for passengers.
The KAGUYA, Japan's first LNG-bunkering ship with LNG loading capacity of 3,193.7m3, was constructed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. with the functions required for a bunkering ship as well as the technological expertise accumulated through construction of coasting LNG carriers. LNG-fueled ships have increasingly been built worldwide to cope with severer international restrictions for reduction of the load on the environment and GHG emissions. Therefore, the KAGUYA is designed to enable LNG bunkering directly between the KAGUYA and a large transport ship. This service will stimulate the use of LNG fuel and increase the competitiveness of Japanese ports in international trade.
This fishing vessel is the next-generation pelagic tuna longliner designed with the concept of a "fishing vessel attractive to people." The vessel is designed considering the crew first, which is a new concept in fishing vessels, and provides the crew with comfortable life on board during extended cruises. The large bulbous bow and bottom-flow hull form were employed for the first timein a tuna longliner. The living quarters are designed to resembled life on land.
The KAWASAKI is an advanced chemical fireboat to cope with fires at a petrochemical complex and conduct rescue operations. The fire-fighting equipment has a jetwater range reaching 120m and water cannons expandable up to 21m. These features greatly improve measures for large-scale disasters in port areas. The newly developed hull form displays superior navigation performance. The automatic positioning system is linked with the waterjet propulsion and side thrusters, to maintain a steady position during operation of the water cannons.
JASNAOE
