BW Epic Kosan
BW Epic Kosan owns and operates the world’s largest fleet of gas carriers providing seaborne services for the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas and petrochemicals. The Company controls a fleet of over 60 vessels which serve the international supply chains of leading oil majors and commodity traders throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
The Company has significant commercial and technical capability across pressurised, semi-refrigerated, refrigerated gas and petrochemical transportation, and aims to deliver customers the best solution for their transportation needs, along with leading service and operational standards.
BW Epic Kosan is headquartered in Singapore, with Copenhagen as a regional office alongside offices in Manila, and Tokyo. It is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker code BWEK.
BW Group owns 49.8% of the shares in the company.
Shipping for Carbon Capture and Storage
Complementary to pipelines for long distances and challenging terrains
Most efforts to achieve international climate goals include carbon capture and storage initiatives. CO2 storage sites are often far away from producers – with a need to move an estimated 90 million tons of CO2 annually to storage sites by 2040, linking CO2 producers with storage facilities will be increasingly important. While the majority of CO2 will be transported by pipelines, this may not be possible or suitable for all locations and distances. This is where shipping can play a complementary role.
At BW Epic Kosan, some of our specialized vessels can already be adapted to carry CO2. These smaller vessels provide optimal flexibility and accessibility, and are oftentimes the “right size” for CO2 transportation: one vessel can carry 10,000 tonnes of CO2 which is equivalent to 10 days of CO2 output from a large cement plant. We are also working with partners on much larger vessels where longer-haul shipping requirements are more likely. In addition, we have the knowledge and experience to build new cargo-flexible, low-emissions vessels. An existing vessel can be converted to be CO2-ready within a few months, and a dual-fuel newbuild will be ready within two to three years.
Our long-standing heritage of transporting LPG, specialty gases and other petrochemicals safely and with the highest operating standards position us well to be a shipping partner of choice for CO2 transportation.
Towards Zero-Carbon Shipping with Ammonia
Paving the way for Ammonia-powered vessels
Ammonia has been identified as one of the leading potential zero emission fuels as it can be produced from renewable electricity and is already produced in large quantities in the Nordic countries. However, ammonia-powered vessels present a number of challenges from the technical, safety, fuel supply and commercial viability fronts – all of which must be overcome before the promise of ships running safely on green ammonia can become a reality.
The Nordic Green Ammonia Powered Ships (NoGAPS) project was launched in 2020 and it aims to pave the way for ammonia-powered vessels first in the Nordic region, and then globally. Consortium partners in this project includes BW Epic Kosan, DNV, Global Maritime Forum, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, MAN Energy Solutions, Wärtsilä and Yara.
In June 2023, Classification society DNV awarded NoGAPS an Approval in Principle (AiP) for the design of the M/S NoGAPS, an ammonia-powered vessel. The design addressed challenges identified in the initial NoGAPS project, including safety during operations, optimal tank sizing and placement, and energy efficiency. BW Epic Kosan is the vessel owner of M/S NoGAPS, and looks forward to the next phase of the project where paper will be turned into steel – where a shipyard tender will be held for the construction of the vessel.
Sustainability at BW Epic Kosan
Our first stand-alone Sustainability Report
As a market-leading owner and operator of vessels engaged in the global delivery of cleaner energy, BW Epic Kosan recognises the need to enhance its environmental, social and governance performance. Our ESG vision is to provide safe and sustainable seaborne transportation of gases in a lower-carbon world. We are focused on long-term economic performance, built on strong business ethics, and invest in our people through training and development to ensure good health, safety and security.
In 2023, we present our first stand-alone Sustainability Report. It highlights our sustainability approach and governance, showcasing performance and progress in the context of activities relating to environment, social and governance (‘ESG’) considerations. Through the Report, we share our commitments to achieving our sustainability goals and hold ourselves to transparent reporting standards.
The maritime industry is undergoing a transformative period to decarbonise. We are committed to achieving the IMO targets. We have several measures in hand, including fleet renewal to reduce carbon intensity, adopting innovative efficiency technical retrofits, and voyage optimisation with weather routing and just-in-time arrivals. Because holding ourselves to the highest ethical standards is both a business and moral imperative, and our stakeholders expect us to conduct our business responsibly.
The BW Epic Kosan Difference
The world needs clean energy – are you ready to take on the challenge?
At BW Epic Kosan, we offer exciting and rewarding career opportunities to bright and ambitious people, who have the skills and determination to succeed in a career at sea and ashore.
Across our offices in Singapore, Copenhagen, Manila and Tokyo, we have approximately 185 employees, whilst about 1,400 seafarers of different nationalities work onboard our vessels. We consider our workforce to be our greatest asset.
We attribute our success to our approach of developing and retaining people who are among the best our industry has to offer. We are as interested in your attitude and motivation, as the knowledge you have today. We place great emphasis on providing learning opportunities and maximising prospects for our staff to progress within the company. We invest in your career rather than just provide you with a job.
