Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Chubu Electric Power, Toyota Tsusho, and Nippon Yusen KK said on Thursday they have agreed to launch a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering business in Japan and have set up two joint ventures.
The companies plan to start supplying marine traffic in the Chubu region in central Japan, they said in a statement.
LNG has been promoted as an alternative to bunker fuel oil for shipping lines facing a 2020 deadline to meet new international standards on sulfur emissions.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; editing by Richard Pullin)