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Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line) has announced that it will be installing a new heading control system into its operating vessels in a move which is expected to increase fuel economy.

The new system, called the Batch Noise Adaptive Autopilot Controller (BNAAC), was developed by Yokogawa Denshikiki Co., Ltd. (YDK)

The principal of the system is to constantly update the ship’s parameter by monitoring and reflecting changing meteorological and hydrographic conditions. It is an upgraded version of the company's previous system which simply reflected the initial parameter setting.

K Line and YDK carried out experimental trials of the new system on a bulk carrier, which is said to have successfully led to a 1 percent reduction of carbon dioxide emissions compared with the current system.

K Line says it has already begun to install the BNAAC system into its newly-built ships. However, based on the results of the trials the company has also decided to install the system into its operating vessels.

The first ship to be installed with the new system is the M/V Becchio Bridge, which is due to call at Tokyo Bay on September 13th.

"Both K Line and YDK are jointly challenging preservation and conservation to protect our global environment," both companies said in a statement.