K Line partners with key Middle East client to work on decarbonisation

Japan’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has signed a memorandum of understanding with one of its top clients in the Middle East, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), to establish a working committee for collaborative research on decarbonisation.

K Line has been working with EGA for more than 40 years. In 2019, it signed a contract of affreightment with the company, shipping around 5m tons of bauxite per year. The two firms will now collaborate together through the sharing of research and ideas and utilising and leveraging on the respective party’s knowledge about new marine technology, alternative fuels and other fields potentially growing in the near future, so as to achieve the common target of a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA, said: “Economy-wide decarbonisation will require cooperation between industries, and we are pleased to work with K Line Group on this important global challenge. Our long-term relationship with K Line Group provides an ideal platform to develop and test ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping. For EGA, our goal is to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions not just from our own operations but also from activities in our supply chain. Improving the fuel efficiency of shipping could also reduce our shipping costs.”