Tokyo: Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) is preparing to sail a new coal carrier equipped with the world's first innovative air-lubrication system.

The vessel Soyo, jointly developed with Oshima Shipbuilding Co, features a main engine scavenging air bypass that uses bubbles to reduce the frictional resistance between the ship's bottom and the seawater.

Soyo, a third vessel equipped with such a system, will be the world's first vessel for overseas transport to have an air-lubrication system permanently installed, NYK claimed.

Sea trials showed a 4% reduction in carbon dioxide during deep drafts and about 8% reduction in shallow drafts.

"The NYK Group will continue to encourage initiatives that address climate change by striving to install this system on other types of vessels," NYK said.