MOL and Tata Steel explore GHG emissions reduction technologies to deploy an environment friendly bulk carrier

TOKYO : Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.a leading global marine transport group, MOL Drybulk Ltd. (MOL Drybulk; CEO: Kazuhiko Kikuchi; Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo), 100% subsidiary of MOL and is a specialized unique entity for dry bulk, and Tata Steel Limited (Tata Steel; CEO & MD: T. V. Narendran; Headquarter: Mumbai, India) which is among the top global steel companies, today announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop and deploy an environment friendly bulk carrier.

MOL will partner with Tata Steel on this innovative project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its supply chain.
Peeyush Gupta, Vice President, Supply Chain, Tata Steel, said: “The objective of the agreement is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the ocean transportation of raw materials for production of steel. In the initial stage, the partnership will explore the environmental benefits and commercial and operational feasibilities of various technologies. This will include the, “Wind Challenger (Note 1) “, a hard sail, which would reduce emissions by harnessing wind energy. MOL has been jointly studying the technology with cross-industrial partners and the first vessel to be equipped with the Wind Challenger is slated to start operation in 2022.”
Ranjan Sinha, Chief Group Shipping and Director RM Procurement of Tata Steel, said: “Tata Steel as a signatory of Responsible Steel is committed to aligning its shipping activities with responsible environmental behaviour. We are pleased to be joining hands with MOL, a reputed global marine transport company, in combining efforts towards sustainable shipping.”

Toshiaki Tanaka, Senior Managing Executive Officer and Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer of MOL, said: “We have recently established MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.1 (Note 2), where we announced that MOL Group will make a concerted effort throughout the Group to achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2050. Including this opportunity, we will pursue “Adoption of Clean Alternative Fuels” and “Enhancement of Energy-Saving Technologies” more in the five initiatives (Fig. 1) to achieve the goal. There would be a long, long pathway to achieve the Vison 2.1, and we believe that working collaboratively with a good partner is important. The partnership with Tata Steel, a leading global steel company, encourages MOL to challenge goals for the Vision 2.1. We are very much happy to have this opportunity.”

About Tata Steel

Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 34 million tonnes per annum. It is one of the world’s most geographically diversified steel producers, with operations and commercial presence across the world. The group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $21.06 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2021.

A Great Place to Work-Certified^TM organisation, Tata Steel Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures, is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000.

Tata Steel has been a part of the DJSI Emerging Markets Index since 2012 and has been consistently ranked amongst top 5 steel companies in the DJSI Corporate Sustainability Assessment since 2016. Besides being a member of ResponsibleSteelTM and worldsteel’s Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has won several awards and recognitions including the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse recognition for its Jamshedpur, Kalinganagar and IJmuiden Plants, and Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2016-17. The Company, ranked as India’s most valuable Metals & Mining brand by Brand Finance, featured amongst CII Top 25 innovative Indian Companies in 2020, received rating of ‘A-‘ (leadership band) from CDP for its Climate Change disclosure and Supply Chain disclosure, Steel Sustainability Champion 2020 recognition from worldsteel, ‘Most Ethical Company’ award 2021 from Ethisphere Institute, Best Risk Management Framework & Systems Award (2020) from CNBC TV-18, and Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting FY20 from ICAI, among several others.

Source : MOL