"K" Line provides marine transport of crude oil, oil products, LPG and other petrochemical products.
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Service Profile
Japan relies on imports for nearly 100% of its crude oil procurement. "K" Line has made the prevention of oil spills and other accidents its highest priority for more than 70 years since it entered the oil tanker services in 1934, providing top-class services to customers around the world by conducting meticulous and safe navigation and cargo operations.
Rigorous standards for ship management systems and crew skills are required globally for the transport of crude oil and petroleum products, which are hazardous substances. In line with such requirements, all of "K" Line's crude oil tankers and product tankers have been double-hulled since 2003, and we constantly take measures such as conducting various marine and onshore training and oil spill exercises to raise skills with the aim of preventing accidents and minimizing harm.
| Crude oil tankers (VLCC) | 8 ships |
|---|---|
| Product tankers (petroleum product tankers) | 4 ships |
| LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) tankers | 3 ships |
| Ammonia tankers | 2 ship |
1. The Relationship between Oil Tankers and Our Lives
The crude oil and petroleum products transported by "K" Line ships are used as fuel and raw materials for various products necessary for daily life and are ever-present in our lives.
Some examples are the cassette gas that people use to cook Sukiyaki on the table at home, the gasoline used to drive cars, the jet fuel used for aircraft when taking an overseas trip, the naphtha used to make plastic bottles and the crude oil or heavy fuel oil used to run electric power plants.
"K" Line safely transports the petroleum resources that support our lives to countries around the world through its oil tanker services.
2. Product Flows in the Petroleum Industry and the Role of "K" Line's Fleet
The petroleum industry consists mainly of the following components
| Upstream: | Crude oil exploration and drilling, crude oil production |
|---|---|
| Midstream: | Crude oil, petroleum product, and petrochemical base product transport and storage, crude oil refining to produce gasoline and other petroleum products, and the manufacture of petrochemical products from petroleum products |
| Downstream: | The distribution and sale of petroleum products as well as petrochemical base products that serve as the raw materials for petroleum chemical products and petrochemical-based products such as plastics. |
"K" Line's oil tanker fleet transports crude oil, petroleum products and petrochemical base products from production regions to refining, manufacturing and storage sites, one element of the midstream process, and plays the following roles according to the application.
| VLCC (crude oil tankers) | Large tankers used to transport crude oil from the Middle East and other regions |
|---|---|
| AFRAMAX crude oil tankers | Medium-sized tankers used mainly for transporting crude oil produced in such areas as Southeast Asia |
| Product tankers | Tankers used to transport naphtha (raw materials for petrochemical products) as well as petroleum products such as jet fuel and so on |
| LGP carriers/ammonia carriers | Carriers used to transport liquefied petroleum gas and ammonia |
3. Crude Oil and Petroleum Product Transport Patterns
Crude oil and petroleum product transport patterns include an unlimited number of combinations linking production sites with refining sites. In "K" Line's Tanker fleet, crude oil is transported mainly from the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions to the rest of the world with an emphasis on the Far East. Also, product tankers transport naphtha used as petrochemical feed from the Middle East to Japan and other regions of Asia and transport gas oil and jet fuel from the Far East and Asia to Europe and the United States.
MTransport Examples
- Case 1: Crude oil seaborne trade from the Middle East to Japan, South Korea and other Far Eastern countries (VLCC)
- Case 2: Crude oil seaborne trade from the Asia-pacific to Singapore or Japan and other Far Eastern countries (AFRAMAX)
- Case 3: Naphtha refined at Middle Eastern refinery is transported by sea to a refinery in Taiwan and other Far Eastern countries (product tanker)
- Case 4: Jet fuel refined in South Korea is transported by sea to Brazil (product tanker)
- Case 5: Gas oil refined in India is transported by sea to Europe (product tanker)
- Case 6: Propane refined in the Middle East is transported by sea to Japan (LPG carrier)
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