Archives for December 2024

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE) is pleased to announce that it has participated as sponsors of the Museo del Galeón*¹, a maritime museum being built in Pasay City in the Philippines with its business partner in the Philippines, Rayomar Management, Inc. (Rayomar).^*2 It aims to support the cultural contribution to the maritime industry in the Philippines that this museum, along with Rayomar, aspires to achieve.

On November 29, a presentation ceremony was held in Manila to donate model galleons to the museum. The ceremony was attended by Chairperson Carlos C. Salinas and Director Gerardo A. Borromeo from the museum, President Garcia from Rayomar, and President Yukikazu Myochin from “K” LINE. Galleons were large sailing ships used by Spain and Portugal from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

The museum will showcase the history of the galleon trade^*3, during which galleons were used, that took place between the Philippines and Mexico from 1565 to 1815. The museum is scheduled to open to the public on October 8, 2025.

By supporting this initiative, “K” LINE hopes to contribute to the promotion of the maritime industry in the Philippines, which provides more seafarers than any other country.

*1.         It is a non-profit organization accredited by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC), and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Museo del Galeón Inc.: https://museodelgaleon.org/

*2.         In 1989, we established a joint venture to create a staffing agency for Filipino seafarers. We are engaged in the recruitment and placement of Filipino seafarers, providing stable staffing for our operating vessels. Additionally, in 2017, we established a joint venture to create a finished vehicle logistics company, becoming an important partner in “K” LINE’s logistics business.

Rayomar Management, Inc.: https://www.rayomar.com.ph/

*3.         Galleon trade route, known as the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade, played a vital role in connecting Asia, America, and Europe during the colonial period. This trade not only promoted commerce but also facilitated the exchange of culture, ideas, and goods. The museum is scheduled to open to the public on October 8, 2025. The galleon trade had strong ties to Japan as well. In the late 16th century, Japan was one of the world’s leading silver-producing countries, making silver a key commodity in the galleon trade. This silver was shipped to Spain via Mexico and exchanged for goods in Europe and other Asian countries.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE) is pleased to announce the execution of a long-term time charter contract through the ship-owning company established in Singapore with GAIL (India) Limited (GAIL)¹ and signing ceremony was held in India. The ship-owning company has also concluded a shipbuilding contract with Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Samsung) for a 174,000 m³ LNG carrier.

This is the first long-term time charter contract between GAIL and “K” LINE involving a newly built vessel. The plan is for this new vessel to be engaged in LNG transportation for GAIL beginning in 2027.

In the 40 years since the delivery of the first Japanese LNG carrier “Bishu Maru” in 1983, “K” LINE has been establishing its expertise in LNG transportation and developing a worldwide network. The signing of the new contracts is a successful result of “K” LINE’s abundant experience supervising vessel construction, its high-quality ship management, and its ability to boast the highest level of safety in its commercially optimized operations.

In our Medium-Term Management Plan published in May 2022, *² “K” LINE has positioned the LNG business as one of its top priority areas for future investment. This agreement is part of our strategy “Acquiring opportunities in future growth markets such as Asia” identified in our Medium-Term Management Plan. “K” LINE will continue to expand its long-term contracts and accommodate the growing demand for energy by responding to the diverse needs of its customers.

*1 GAIL(India) Limited is India’s largest state-owned natural gas company.

https://gailonline.com/ABGailstory.html

*2 Medium-Term Management Plan (Released on May 9th, 2022)

https://www.kline.co.jp/en/ir/management/strategy.html

Vessel Specifications

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE) held a global IT conference in mid-November with the goal of promoting its digital transformation (DX) strategy and strengthening security.

21 IT/DX specialists from 11 countries and regions representing major bases of “K” LINE’s global network came to Japan for a conference attended by a total of 42 people, which also included the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of “K” LINE and relevant people from the Digitalization Strategy Group and “K” Line Business Systems Co., Ltd., a “K” LINE Group IT company. For two days, they participated in workshops and energetically discussed more than 20 agenda items including solid IT infrastructure to enable the more than 5,600 employees of the “K” LINE Group to work with a feeling of security, advanced and reliable security measures for customers and solutions, DX-related projects introduced at different bases, and other topics.

The scale of business and IT varies from country to country and from base to base, but “K” LINE believes that sharing the results of IT and DX efforts should help improve its customer services in each country and region. They realized that facilitating efforts to leverage IT/DX to maintain “K” LINE’s core values, safety, environmental consciousness and quality, will result in the enhancement of the “K” LINE Group’s corporate value. They also recognized that the head office and business locations of the global network should collaborate more closely and accelerate the improvement and enhancement of the IT/DX environment in many regions.

“K” LINE is driving digitalization as a functional strategy for achieving its business strategy under the Medium-term Management Plan announced in May 2022. It will continue to strive to be a group of reliable professionals in maritime transportation that its stakeholders can trust, and together with “K” LINE’s IT family, it will contribute to enhancing corporate value and solving social issues in the fields of IT and DX.

Reference
DX Strategy of “K” LINE announced in December 22, 2022
https://www.kline.co.jp/en/sustainability/dx_strategy.html