- Details
United European Car Carriers (UECC),* owned equally by NYK and Wallenius Lines, held a naming ceremony on November 21 at the Port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, for Auto Eco, the world's first LNG-fueled pure car and truck carrier (PCTC). Auto Eco had been delivered to UECC on September 29.
The ceremony was attended by Geert Bourgeois, minister-president of the government of Flanders; Claire Tillekaerts, CEO of Flanders Investment and Trade; Masafumi Ishii, Japan's ambassador to Belgium; Takao Kusakari, NYK senior advisor; and Koichi Chikaraishi, NYK senior managing corporate officer; among others.
Auto Eco is equipped with dual-fuel engines that can use either liquefied natural gas (LNG) or heavy fuel oil and marine gas oil. The vessel is also a Finnish/Swedish ice class 1A super vessel, thus allowing for safe, full-year sailing in the Baltic Sea, where ice is common in winter.
UECC will make every effort to improve its services and reduce environmental loads through the use of this unique ship.
- Details
On November 15 as part of the company???s Remember Naka-no-Se Campaign,* NYK conducted a crisis-response drill based on the scenario of a serious accident occurring on an NYK-owned and operated PCTC (pure car and truck carrier).
Cooperation from the Maritime Bureau within Japan???s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), the 4th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters of Japan, and related parties enabled this drill to be more realistic and practical than before. During the drill, NYK???s crisis-management headquarters simulated timely press releases and reconfirmed the importance of immediate and correct information disclosure to the public.
A summary of the drill is provided below.
<Situation>
A fire broke out in a cargo space on a PCTC while the vessel was sailing off the coast of Ise Bay. A crew member was injured while firefighting. In addition, a pipe on deck was damaged by the fire, and oil then leaked into the sea.
<Flow of drill>
1) NYK established a crisis-management headquarters in response to an urgent report from the PCTC???s ship-management company.
2) NYK reported information about the accident to MLIT???s Maritime Bureau, the Japan Coast Guard, and related parties.
3) NYK directed the PCTC to rescue the injured, conduct firefighting, and remove the oil from the sea by coordinating with MLIT, the Japan Coast Guard, and related parties.
4) NYK sent out press releases as the situation progressed and responded to media enquiries.
NYK will further advance its safety management systems, positioning navigational safety as its most important task, and will aim to be a leading company in the safety field based on the group???s medium-term management plan, ???More Than Shipping 2018.???
* Remember Naka-no-Se Campaign
This campaign has been conducted every year to remind NYK Group members of the importance of safe operations and to ensure that lessons remain learnt from the oil spill that occurred in July 1997 from VLCC Diamond Grace.
- Details
On November 14, Anne Berner, Finland's minister of Transport and Communications; government officials; and representatives of 10 Finnish maritime companies, 23 guests in total visited the NYK head office and met with NYK representative director and executive vice-president corporate officer Naoya Tazawa and senior managing corporate officer Yasuo Tanaka.
Earlier in the year on March 10, 2016, the leaders of Japan and Finland issued a joint statement on a strategic partnership between Japan and Finland as gateways in Asia and Europe. Minister Berner was visiting Japan to promote cooperation among companies of both countries in a wide range of areas. She was seeking cooperation particularly in the maritime industry for the technical development of automated vessel operation systems and the Arctic Ocean. NYK was the only company in the maritime industry to be visited.
During the meeting, Minister Berner spoke about the exceptional technology being developed by Finnish maritime companies. NYK and MTI, and NYK Group company, introduced their developments and how the NYK Group utilizes IoT and Big Data for vessels, etc. and an active exchange of opinions followed.
To encourage the development and use of creative solutions and thus create new value, the NYK Group will continue to pursue competitive advantages by building good relationships with the governments of various nations, and companies in the maritime industry.
