TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd expects shipment of its first cargo of liquefied hydrogen from Australia to Japan will be delayed until the second half of this financial year in October to March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.
A $500 million ($388 million) pilot project, led by Kawasaki Heavy and backed by the Japanese and Australian governments, was originally scheduled to ship its first cargo of hydrogen extracted from brown coal in Australia’s Victoria state in spring, but it has been delayed till the second half of this year.
“Due to the pandemic restrictions, foreign engineers have still not been able to come to Japan to make final checks on the vessel,” the spokesman said.
The shipment would be on the world’s first dedicated hydrogen carrier, Kawasaki Heavy’s Suiso Frontier.
($1 = 1.2902 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi, editing by Louise Heavens)
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