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NYK Celebrates Its 130th Anniversary
??? Employing creative solutions and a pioneering spirit to spark a better future for the NYK Group ???
NYK president Tadaaki Naito marked the 130th anniversary of NYK???s founding by addressing company employees at the NYK head office in Tokyo on October 2. A summary of his speech is provided below.
Today is a milestone marking exactly 130 years since NYK began business on October 1, 1885. In light of the significance of this event, I would like to look back on NYK???s 130 year history, which I think can be roughly divided into three periods. The first begins in the year of our founding, 1885, and ends with the devastation of World War II (WW II). In the second period, we started from nearly nothing to overcome the chaos that followed the war and achieved a miraculous recovery during Japan???s record economic growth. The third period was marked by a loss of cost competitiveness due to yen appreciation stemming from the Plaza Accord in 1985, followed by the end of the Cold War and trade diversification and globalization amid ongoing structural reforms in the shipping industry.
The Past 30 Years
By curious coincidence, 1985 was also the same year NYK celebrated its 100th anniversary. I would now like to take a closer look at the 30 years since our 100th anniversary.
Over these three decades, ongoing business diversification and globalization have resulted in consolidated revenues increasing by a factor of 5.3, from 3.7 billion U.S. dollars to 20.0 billion dollars. Our fleet of vessels has more than doubled in number. The value of our total assets is approximately six times as great. And our consolidated subsidiaries and affiliates have grown from 36 in 1985 to more than 700 today. Approximately half of these are ship-owning special purpose companies (SPCs). As a result, the composition of NYK Group employees has greatly diversified. Japanese, who used to be the majority, accounted for 24 percent of all NYK Group office workers in fiscal 2014, 15 percent of all employees when seafarers were included. Multinationalization has resulted in national staff becoming the majority of the group. Among our shareholders, non-Japanese investors represented only 3 percent of the total 30 years ago. Now, they account for nearly 40 percent.
Looking at these changes, we can clearly understand that NYK Group business expansion and globalization are two sides of the same coin.
NYK???s Competitive Advantage
Data comparisons such as these might give the impression that the voyage has been smooth sailing for the NYK Group over the past 30 years. However, this seemingly steady growth was not an autonomous achievement attained in a benevolent environment. It is the result of a repeated, diligent effort day and night. Our predecessors devoted themselves to the pursuit of ???creativity,??? an attribute of the company since its inception, while desperately seeking a path to differentiation to ensure a competitive advantage, no matter how slight, within the global shipping industry. This can be expressed broadly in four points:
- After WW II, our tenacious efforts enabled the return to the shipping conference, allowing stable management of shipping services.
- Under the banner of safety, security, and reliability, we established close relationships with the huge Japanese manufacturing segment.
- Working within the constraints of limited capital, we made the most of our knowledge and determined spirit to be innovative in building new types of vessels.
- Using our strong relationships with Japanese shipyards, which have excellent technical capabilities, we conceived of and built highly competitive vessels.
Making the most of these advantages to successfully draw up business plans enabled us to navigate the rough seas of past market slumps caused by the oil shock, strong yen, and the large gap between supply and demand. However, the globalization of the world economy has caused massive changes in the environment surrounding the shipping industry, and these advantages have nearly disappeared. Namely, these include the following:
- Shipping conferences, which had contributed to the stability of shipping services, are now a relic of the past.
- Seaborne trade, which had been driven by Japanese companies, is now led by developing countries mainly in Asia, making the cultivation of a new customer base essential.
- Financial liberalization, which resulted in speculative capital flowing into the shipping industry, has created an environment where anyone can build ships without having specialized knowledge or expertise.
- The rise of shipyards in Korea and China has seen vessels becoming commoditized.
If we had maintained the way things had been done up to now without devising creative solutions, we might have faced a difficult survival.
Creative Solutions???
If the aforementioned competitive advantage resulted from the efforts of our predecessors, then we certainly have the potential to formulate new competitive advantages with our own minds. We should not be pessimistic and stand still. We must plant and grow the seeds of new differentiation. We must remain hands-on and be continually sensitive to the winds of change. This is the NYK Group DNA, the essence of the creative solutions that I have being referring to since I was appointed president.
Currently, under the new medium-term management plan, ???More Than Shipping 2018,??? we are pursuing new differentiation through advancements, which we expect will give rise to our next competitive advantage.
Pioneering Spirit
I would like all NYK Group employees to remember the key points I have mentioned today ??? rapid globalization, commoditization of vessels, the loss of our previous competitive advantage and the establishment of a new competitive advantage ??? and I would like to ask you to think seriously about what you should do now from the view of your respective positions and responsibilities. To formulate creative solutions, it is critical that we combine the accumulated knowledge of each of your workplaces. I want you to think with your own head, argue freely and vigorously, but above all, actually take action. When I was appointed president, I visited the NYK Maritime Museum in Yokohama to study NYK???s history, and once again I felt pride in the persistent efforts made by the group. Within NYK???s history, we can find numerous businesses that were the first of their kind in Japan or in the world. Making the most of this pioneering spirit, and not being content with 130 years of history, I urge you to join me in forging ahead to create a better future for the NYK Group.
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G6 Alliance announces Asia - North America Winter Program
Members of the G6 Alliance today announced the Winter Program for the alliance Asia - North America services in response to seasonal changes in market demand.
The G6 Alliance will continue to offer a variety of services between Asia and North America, covering all major port pairs with weekly sailings, but adjustments have been made where necessary. The G6 Alliance also provides services on the Asia - Europe and Transatlantic trade lanes.
(1) Asia - North America East Coast Service
New Service
The G6 Alliance will combine the NYE and SCE services into a single service (NSC) having the following port rotation:
NSC
Port rotation: Xiamen - Kaohsiung - Hong Kong - Yantian - Shanghai (Yangshan) - Pusan - Panama Canal - Manzanillo - Kingston - Savannah - Charleston - New York - Norfolk - Jacksonville - Kingston - Manzanillo - Panama Canal - Balboa - Pusan - Xiamen
First Sailing: Week 44 sailing (ETA Xiamen October 29, 2015)
Service Suspension
The below NYE and SCE services will be temporarily suspended.
NYE
Port rotation: Kaohsiung - Ningbo - Shanghai (Yangshan) - Pusan - Panama Canal - Manzanillo - Savannah - New York - Norfolk - Jacksonville - Manzanillo - Panama Canal - Balboa - Pusan - Kaohsiung
Last Sailing: Week 44 E/B (ETA Kaohsiung October 25, 2015) and Week 48 W/B (ETA Savannah November 23, 2015)
SCE
Port rotation: Xiamen - Kaohsiung - Da Chan Bay - Hong Kong - Yantian - Panama Canal - Manzanillo - Kingston - Savannah - Charleston - Kingston - Manzanillo - Panama Canal - Xiamen
Last Sailing: Week 43 E/B (ETA Xiamen October 20, 2015) and Week 48 W/B (ETA Savannah November 22, 2015)
(2) Asia -North America West Coast Service
Service Suspension
The G6 Alliance will temporarily suspend the Central China 2 (CC2) service between Asia and the North America West Coast during the winter period starting from Week 44.
CC2
Port rotation: Ningbo - Shanghai (WaiGaoQiao) - Pusan - Los Angeles (Long Beach) - Ningbo
Last sailing: Week 43 E/B (ETA Ningbo October 18, 2015) and Week 45 W/B (ETA Los Angeles (Long Beach) November 5, 2015)
Service Enhancement
The Pusan Eastbound call will be added to the CC4 service during the CC2 suspension, resulting in the following rotation:
CC4
Port rotation: Shanghai (WaiGaoQiao) - Ningbo - Pusan - Los Angeles - Oakland - Shanghai (WaiGaoQiao)
The G6 Alliance members include APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and Orient Overseas Container Line
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New Coal Carrier Tenryu Maru Delivered
On September 25, a new 100,000 deadweight tonnage coal carrier ordered by NYK Bulkship (Asia) Pte. Ltd., an NYK Group subsidiary company based in Singapore, was delivered at Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. (Saikai city, Nagasaki prefecture). A delivery and naming ceremony was held at the shipyard on the same day and attended by NYK senior managing corporate officer Masahiro Samitsu and representatives from Chubu Electric Power Co. Inc.
Tenryu Maru is the first coal carrier to be jointly owned by a power company and a shipping company. After delivery, the ship will be assigned to transport coal mainly from Australia and Indonesia to power plants operated by Chubu Electric Power.
Tenryu Maru has been built with a wide beam and shallow draft, improving transportation efficiency to ports having a limited water depth, compared with a standard 70,000-ton Panamax bulk carrier.
In accordance with its medium-term management plan, ???More Than Shipping 2018,??? NYK will continue its efforts to make use of creative solutions to provide stable and economical coal transport.
-- About Tenryu Maru
|
(1) Length Overall |
249.98 meters |
|
(2) Breadth |
43.00 meters |
|
(3) Summer Draft |
12.833 meters |
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(4) Gross Tonnage |
56,897 tons |
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(5) Deadweight Tonnage |
100,172 metric tons |
|
(6) Builder |
Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. |
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(7) Flag |
Singapore |
