British oil and gas firm bp and Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) Line have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly work together on future fuels and transportation solutions to facilitate decarbonisation.

For the shipping industry, the firms will cooperate and identify opportunities to help the transition from current marine fuels to green fuels, including LNG, biofuels and methanol.

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They will work together on the development of future fuels, such as ammonia and hydrogen.

For promoting decarbonisation in other hard-to-abate industrial divisions, NYK Line and bp will study other solutions for carbon dioxide as well as potential marine transportation.

They will also examine supply chains for hydrogen and ammonia for the purpose of generating power in heavy industry.

Through this partnership, NYK Line is looking for opportunities to lead decarbonisation efforts in the maritime industry.

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Meanwhile, bp will team up with other key players in the industry in an effort to manage carbon emissions.

bp aims to become a net-zero firm by 2050 or sooner.

bp regions, cities and solutions executive vice president William Lin said: “bp and NYK Line 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.”

NYK Line energy division chief executive Akira Kono said: “We are 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.”

In June, NYK partnered with mining firm Anglo American and biofuel supplier Toyota Tsusho to conduct a test run of biofuel for ship-to-ship bunkering for NYK bulk carrier Frontier Jacaranda.

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