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Nippon Yusen News

11 Apr 2024

NYK Line’s 3D Design for Multi-Purpose Container Carrier Gets ClassNK Pass

 3D drawing (Credit: NYK Line)

ClassNK has granted approval to the basic design drawings of a multi-purpose container carrier developed by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) utilizing 3D models.This marks the world's first ocean-going ship to complete the basic design process, including class approval, solely through 3D drawings from the conceptual design to the basic structural design, during the initial stages of ship construction, according to NYK Line and ClassNK.Traditionally, the sharing of design information among shipyards…

13 Feb 2024

Four Japanese Companies Form Consortium for Eco-Friendly VLCCs Concepts

Eco-Friendly VLCC Concept (Credit: NYK)

Idemitsu Tanker, IINO Kaiun Kaisha (IINO Lines), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), and Nihon Shipyard have established a consortium to conduct joint research and development of design concepts for Malacca Max-type very large crude oil carriers (VLCCs).The design concepts, including machinery and environment equipment, will be developed with a view of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the consortium that was initiated by Idemitsu Tanker said.Aiming to reduce emissions by 40% or more compared to previous levels…

25 Jan 2024

Japan Takes the Lead on Ammonia as Maritime Fuel

Image courtesy NYK

Late last year Japanese maritime leaders – Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), Japan Engine Corporation, IHI Power Systems Co., and Nihon Shipyard Co., Ltd. – signed a series of contracts to buid the world's first ammonia-fueled medium gas carrier (AFMGC) equipped with Japan-make engines. The target is a completed ship by November 2026.While the project is significant, hurdles remain, namely:While development work is underway, today there is not yet a dual-fuel ammonia engine on the market…

16 Jan 2024

Another Ship Hit in the Red Sea

© ID1974 / Adobe Stock

Disruptions to Red Sea shipping caused by Houthi attacks will push up prices of consumer goods, an executive from port and freight operator DP World said on Tuesday as a missile struck another vessel in the region.The Iran-allied Houthi militia has threatened to expand its attacks to include U.S. ships in response to American and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.Attacks by the Houthis on ships in the region since November have impacted companies and alarmed major powers - an escalation of Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

16 Jan 2024

NYK Line Stops Vessel Transits in Red Sea

© angeldibilio / Adobe Stock

Japan's Nippon Yusen, the country's biggest shipper by sales, on Tuesday suspended navigation through the Red Sea for all the vessels it operates, a spokesperson told Reuters.The company, also known as NYK Line, has also instructed its vessels navigating near the Red Sea to wait in safe waters and is considering route changes, the spokesperson said.It is the latest operator to cease traversing the key shipping corridor following an advisory from the Combined Maritime Forces to stay clear of the region after the launch of U.S.

29 Dec 2023

Container Lines Continue to Divert from Suez Canal

© Kalyakan / Adobe Stock

Hapag-Lloyd will continue to divert its vessels around the Suez Canal for security reasons, a spokesperson for the German container shipper said on Friday, adding a further assessment would be made on January 2.Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Yusen, Japan's largest shipping companies, also said their vessels with links to Israel were avoiding the Red Sea area. Both companies said they were monitoring the situation.Shipping companies including Hapag-Lloyd and Denmark's Maersk earlier…

28 Dec 2023

Red Sea Shipping Workarounds Add Costs, Delays for Suppliers

© EvrenKalinbacak / Adobe Stock

Toymaker Basic Fun's team that oversees ocean shipments of Tonka trucks and Care Bears for Walmart and other retailers is racing to reroute cargo away from the Suez Canal following militant attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.Suppliers for the likes of IKEA, Home Depot, Amazon and retailers around the world are doing the same as businesses grapple with the biggest shipping upheaval since the COVID-19 pandemic threw global supply chains into disarray, sources in the logistics industry said.Florida-based Basic Fun usually ships all Europe-bound toys from its China factories via the Suez Canal…

05 Dec 2023

Galaxy Leader Crew Allowed “Modest Contact” with Families - Shipowner

(Photo: Screenshot from video shared by Yemeni Armed Forces)

The crew of the Galaxy Leader commercial ship seized by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis last month have been allowed "modest contact" with their families while various countries push for their release, the vessel's owner said this week.The Bahamas flagged car carrier was taken to the port of Hodeidah in the Houthi controlled north of Yemen after being boarded at sea on November 19 by commandos with the group.The vessel's crew is made up of nationals from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania, Galaxy Maritime said.

22 Nov 2023

US Reviewing Possible 'Terrorist' Designations for Houthis Following Ship Seizure

(Photo: Screenshot from video shared by Yemeni Armed Forces)

The United States is reviewing "potential terrorist designations" for Yemen's Houthi rebel group in response to its seizure of a cargo ship, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday.Kirby's comment was significant because one of the Biden administration's first acts after taking office in January 2021 was revoking terrorist designations of the Houthis over fears the sanctions they carried could worsen Yemen's humanitarian crisis.The Iran-backed Houthis…

20 Nov 2023

Hijacked Galaxy Leader Ship in Yemen's Hodeidah Port Area

(Photo: Screenshot from video shared by Yemeni Armed Forces)

The Galaxy Leader commercial ship was "illegally boarded by military personnel via a helicopter" on Nov. 19 and is now in the Hodeidah port area in Yemen, the vessel’s owner said on Monday."All communications were subsequently lost with the vessel," Isle of Man registered Galaxy Maritime Ltd, owner of the pure car carrier Galaxy Leader, said in a statement."The company, as a shipping concern, will not be commenting further on the political or geopolitical situation."Yemen's Iran…

20 Nov 2023

Two Ships Divert Course Away from Red Sea After Vessel Seized by Houthis

© aerial-drone / Adobe Stock

Two commercial ships that diverted their course in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden were connected to the same maritime group whose vessel was seized by Yemen's Houthis, according to shipping data and British maritime security company Ambrey.Israel on Sunday said the Houthis had seized a British-owned, Japanese-operated cargo ship in the southern Red Sea, describing the incident as an "Iranian act of terrorism" with consequences for international maritime security.The Houthis, an ally of Tehran…

20 Nov 2023

Video: Houthis Seize Car Carrier in the Red Sea

(Photo: Screenshot from video shared by Yemeni Armed Forces)

Israel said on Sunday that Yemen's Houthis had seized a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship in the southern Red Sea, describing the incident as an "Iranian act of terrorism" with consequences for international maritime security.The Houthis said they had seized a ship in that area but described it as Israeli. "We are treating the ship's crew in accordance with Islamic principles and values," a spokesperson for the group said, making no reference to the Israeli account.The Houthis…

18 Oct 2023

NYK and Partners Launch Sound-Analysis Tool

Images courtesy of NYK

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), MTI, and Nabtesco Corporation have developed an electric diagnostic tool that records, visualizes, and analyzes the operational sounds of a vessel's engine plant for early anomaly detection.The device has been named “Kirari MUSE” and can store operational sounds from the equipment as data and use it to diagnose equipment conditions.Listening rods made of elongated metal are already widely used for diagnosing equipment conditions. By placing a listening rod on a turbine…

25 Sep 2023

Japanese Shipping Companies Partner on Liquefied Hydrogen

Concept image of 160,000㎥ liquefied hydrogen carrier provided by Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

Japanese shipping companies, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), have agreed to join JSE Ocean, a subsidiary of Japan Suiso Energy (JSE).JSE remains the majority shareholder with 50.2% of stock, whilst the shipping companies hold 16.6% each.Japan’s Basic Hydrogen Strategy, revised by the Japanese government in June 2023, identifies hydrogen as the alternative to fossil fuels as it targets decarbonisation. In the Strategy Japan commits to a target of 3 million tons/year of hydrogen by 2030…

21 Aug 2023

NYK Tests Biofuels on Australian Voyage

Source: NYK

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), NYK Group’s Asahi Shipping, and Kobe Steel have announced a successful trial run of biofuels on a voyage between Japan and Australia.The companies supplied biofuel via ship-to-ship transfer to the bulk carrier Sunrise Serenity at the port of Kobe in Japan. The vessel was supplied with biofuel by Toyota Tsusho Marine Fuels Corporation and then sailed to the port of Newcastle, Australia.The vessel is operated and managed by Asahi Shipping and…

20 Jul 2023

ABS Approves Fully Autonomous Ship Framework

Source: MHI

The design of a pioneering, fully autonomous ship framework has received approval in principle (AIP) from ABS.The fully autonomous ship framework, named APExS-auto (Action Planning and Execution System for full autonomous), was developed by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), Monohakobi Technology Institute (MTI) and Japan Marine Science Inc. (JMS) as part of the fully autonomous ship program MEGURI 2040.ABS worked with MTI and JMS to review the APExS-auto framework in accordance with the ABS Requirements for Autonomous and Remote-Control Functions.

05 Jul 2023

NYK Joins Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonization

Lycaste Peace (Source: NYK)

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) have announced the signing of a five-year Strategic Partnership agreement.The partnership boosts the center's efforts to conduct pilots and trials of low-carbon solutions for the global shipping industry.Japan is one of the top three shipowning countries in the world, and Japanese merchant vessels account for around 11% of world tonnage. Numbers from Clarksons Green Transition Team further indicate that Japan leads other nations in alternative-fuel-ready vessel orders…

29 Jun 2023

ClassNK Grants AiP for Ship that Can Transport Ammonia and Liquefied CO2

Credit: Mitsubishi Shipbuilding

Japanese classification society ClassNK has granted Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) Approval in Principle (AiP) for a ship that can transport ammonia and liquefied CO2 (LCO2).LCO2 carriers play an important role as one of the means of efficiently transporting captured and liquefied CO2 to storage sites or effective use sites in the CCUS (Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization, and Storage) value chain, which is attracting attention as one of the means to realize a low-carbon and decarbonized society…

15 Mar 2023

First Car Carrier Bunkered with LNG in Singapore

(Photo: FueLNG)

Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and FueLNG, a joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd and Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd, have completed the first bunkering to an LNG-fueled pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) vessel in Singapore.NYK’s Jasmine Leader, one of the largest PCTC vessels in the world, successfully completed her LNG bunkering with FueLNG Bellina on March 8, 2023.“We are delighted to have achieved the first PCTC LNG bunkering through Jasmine Leader in Singapore,” said Yuji Nishijima, Executive Officer in charge for fuel procurement of NYK.

15 Mar 2023

ONE Orders 10 Containerships

© Björn Wylezich / Adobe Stock

Japanese shipping company Ocean Network Express Pte. Ltd (ONE) on Wednesday announced it has ordered 10 new 13,700 TEU vessels for delivery in 2025 and 2026, adding more tonnage to the industry's crowded containership orderbook.ONE, which is jointly owned by the Japanese shipping lines Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ("K" Line), did not reveal financial details or where the vessels will be constructed.The 10 new vessels will be ready for methanol and ammonia fuel and equipped with a bow cover and other energy saving technologies, ONE said.

30 Jan 2023

NYK Invests in Ghelia to Develop AI Services for Shipping

Image courtesy NYK

Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and GHELIA INC. (Ghelia) have entered into a business and capital alliance agreement that comes with an investment by NYK in Ghelia. The two companies will collaborate on R&D for autonomous ships, avoidance navigation, etc., as well as promote DX by introducing Ghelia’s AI technologies to business processes in various NYK divisions.The shipping industry has recently seen a number of requests involving the development and design of digital engineering and digital twins…

29 Jun 2023

Macquarie to Divest U.S. Port Terminal Operator Ceres

Credit: be free/AdobeStock

Australian financial conglomerate Macquarie Group said on Thursday it would divest its U.S.-based port terminal operator Ceres Terminals, with a source familiar with the matter placing the deal value north of $900 million.Macquarie did not disclose any further details on the deal, and declined to comment on Reuters' request seeking confirmation of the sale value.The Wall Street Journal in May reported that Macquarie was looking for about $1 billion from the sale, citing sources familiar with the matter.The deal value could be at the lower end of what the Wall Street Journal reported…

09 May 2023

Macquarie Expects $1 Billion from Sale of US Port Terminal Operator Ceres

(File photo: Ceres Terminals)

Australia's Macquarie Group Ltd is looking to sell its North American port facilities business, Ceres Terminals, for about $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing sources familiar with the matter.The financial conglomerate acquired full control of the general cargo stevedoring operations in 2019 from Tokyo-based shipping and logistics firm Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line).Ceres moves about 4.3 million containers annually at several major ports in the United States, according to its company website.The shipping industry globally has been under pressure as supply-chain bottl