The utilization of operation data on on-board equipment enables marine equipment manufacturers to understand actual operating conditions of equipment and the ongoing needs of users.

  This paper introduces a system to provide users with equipment condition reports based on such operational data, called Sunflame Smart Support System, developed by Sunflame, a manufacturer of boiler burners and incinerators.

  This service automatically produces reports on equipment conditions on a regular basis and in an emergency situation, sending them to users and encouraging the ship’s crew to take appropriate actions for greater economic efficiency and safety. Additionally, this paper highlights examples of how Sunflame attempts to improve the value of its services. Regarding a mechanism to collect data onboard vessels, Sunflame’s method enables the efficient acquisition of data from multiple devices and contributes to minimizing modifications to existing data loggers. Sunflame believes that it will need to develop a method that enables users to take action more effectively, and that it will be all the more important to link its systems to information from other equipment in the engine room.

  Many ships in service have been started to be retrofitted BWTS (Ballast Water Treatment System) on board the vessel in the world and also new shipbuilding has started to be equipped BWTS with new design and construction for its installation after the regulation, the International Convention for the control and Management of ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 became effective on 8 September 2017. After then, ship owners have experienced some troubles and/or incidents on their BWTS installed or retrofitted in their vessels. This time, some troubles caused on BWTS's in some vessels will be shown in this paper.

  Biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel have been promoted as a climate change solution for the transport sector, including automobiles. Biofuels blended with conventional fuels have also been tested in the marine sector to comply with the IMO GHG regulations. As most biofuels are currently produced from land-based crops, there is a concern that increased consumption of biofuels may require agricultural expansion at a global scale, leading to additional carbon emissions. This effect is called Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC). This survey report describes a series of sustainability criteria and GHG emissions of biofuels used in the transport sector by referring to the EU Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001/EU (EU-RED II). High ILUC-risk feedstocks are determined and the share of biofuels produced from food and feed crops is intended to be limited and gradually reduced to zero. In contrast, low ILUC-risk biofuels are certified, and advanced biofuels produced from wasted biomass are recommended for future use.

With increasing global momentum for decarbonization, IMO adopted a "Initial Strategy on reduction of GHG emission from ships" aimed at halving GHG emissions from international shipping by 2050 and reducing these emissions to zero as soon as possible in this century. Even a speedier reduction has been discussed in many quarters. As a measure to reduce GHG emissions, a shift from fossil fuels to alternative fuels, such as synfuels, hydrogen and ammonia, has been studied. On the other hand, the utilization and semi-permanent storage of captured CO₂ is also regarded as one promising option to reduce GHG emissions. As part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group's energy transition strategy, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. is engaged in the development of an onboard CO₂ capture system with the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions from ships. This paper introduces the "Carbon Capture on the Ocean" (CC-Ocean) project for verification testing of an onboard CO₂ capture system, which was conducted in cooperation with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, with support from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Using a cavitating liquid jet apparatus, the authors conducted two-stage cavitation erosion tests with carbon steel samples (S15C) in seawater and tap water. The results obtained from the tests are as follows: (1) Even when the timing of a shift from the first stage environment (seawater) to the second stage environment (tap water) was changed, and in the reverse case or the environment was changed multiple times, the mass loss of sample metals by cavitation erosion after deceleration was smaller than the figure measured in the seawater environment. (2) In this case, the relative erosion resistance of the shift tests during the incubation period was slightly higher than that of the tap water environment, and the resistance of the shift tests during the acceleration period was almost equal. (3) The relative erosion resistance depended on the ratio of the total exposure time in the first stage environment to the total exposure time, even when the timing of an environmental shift was changed, or the environment was changed multiple times between the first and second stages.

  Natural gas engines have a potential to contribute to achieving lower GHG emissions compared with conventional marine diesel oil engines. In the case of premixed combustion of natural gas, a pilot fuel ignition system which has multiple ignition effects is mounted on a marine natural gas engine with large bore size cylinders to shorten combustion duration.

  However, it is difficult for a conventional pilot fuel injection system to control ignition under high load fluctuation. This is because the ignition delay of pilot fuel is affected by the equivalence ratio of methane/air mixture. In this study, the authors investigated the effect of pilot fuel injection strategies on the ignition and combustion characteristics of methane/air mixture. A split pilot fuel injection strategy was also assessed using a high response solenoid fuel injector for common rail diesel engines. The results showed that this strategy impacted flame propagation start time, pressure rise rate, and ignition position.