Newlight reports 24% fuel cut on cargo ship voyage

On a month-long voyage from Singapore to Ghana, Newlight co-founders Evyatar Cohen and Haran Cohen Hillel watched their hydrogen system run aboard a 650-foot-long Lomar Shipping bulk carrier. The startup says the retrofit cut fuel consumption by 24% and carbon dioxide emissions by 28% over the ship's 8,500-nautical-mile journey.

The equipment is designed to work with the diesel engines already used by cargo ships. Newlight injects compressed hydrogen into the combustion process, then continuously adjusts the flow using measurements of exhaust temperature, combustion pressure and air intake pressure. The timing can change down to the millisecond as each piston moves inside the engine's cylinders.

That makes the proposal less disruptive than replacing a ship's propulsion system. Newlight says installation takes less than two weeks and does not require a dry dock. The company also says the system can cut fuel use and emissions by more than 20% across vessels, with potential annual savings of as much as $500,000 for some ships. Those broader figures are projections from the startup; the 24% and 28% results are likewise company-reported, and no independent trial is cited in the account.

For ship operators, the near-term value is a retrofit that could reduce diesel consumption while a vessel remains in its existing operating model. Newlight says it has signed agreements covering 12 vessels across multiple companies, with broader fleet rollouts planned for next year. The first long-range commercial voyage moves the system beyond laboratory monitoring, but those planned installations will show whether the result holds across different ships and routes.

Newlight has raised $9 million from investors including lomarlabs, BIRD Energy, Undeterred Capital, CiRi Ventures and Fusion VC. The company says it is focusing on shipping for now, although its founders see possible applications in trains, transportation and data centers. Other firms are pursuing fuel-injection approaches using ammonia or methanol; Newlight's case is that hydrogen requires fewer changes to conventional marine diesel engines.