Promotion of Safety in Navigation and Cargo Operations

Safety in navigation and cargo operations is an immutable mission in running a shipping business. The “K” LINE Group includes “providing safe and optimizec services” in its corporate principle and vision and has established the following three policy pillars in order to fulfill its social responsibility through safety in navigation and cargo operations:
(1) Enhancing management structure for ensuring safety in navigation
(2) Strengthening the ship management system
(3) Reinforcing the securing and training of maritime technical personnel

The Ship Safety Promotion Committee, chaired by the president & CEO, is the top decision-making body covering safety. It determines accident prevention and safety measures for all ships operated by the Company—including owned, chartered, and entrusted vessels—and handles everything from basic policy formulation to implementation of measures under the system shown below.

Through in-house ship management companies that share our corporate principle, we provide higher-quality, safer, and more secure services by making full use of our expertise with regard to different vessel types.

Based on the 2022 medium-term management plan, with the aim of providing high-quality and trusted ship management services, establishing a region-based customer support system, and flexibly responding to diversifying needs, “K” LINE aims to strengthen its global functional strategy structure that encompasses maritime technology, human resources, and regional bases, which are the business domains of ship management companies. Accordingly, we have established two new companies.

① K MARINE SHIP MANAGEMENT PTE. LTD. 
K MARINE SHIP MANAGEMENT PTE. LTD. has been established in Singapore, and the management of oil tankers, LPG carriers, and LNG carriers has been transferred from “K” Line Energy Ship Management Co., Ltd. In addition, as one of the global bases that support the activities of our business divisions in Asia, we will accelerate efforts to become carbon free and introduce digital trans formation technology.

② “K” Line Marine Solutions Co., Ltd.
“K” Line Marine Techno Service Co., Ltd., which operates the maritime consulting business for the “K” LINE Group, was renamed “K” Line Marine Solutions Co., Ltd., on July 1, 2022. Furthermore, our maritime technical functions—which were previously dispersed among the Safety and Ship Quality Management Division and each business division—have been consolidated into the new company for responding adroitly and flexibly to newly arising needs, such as maritime support for existing businesses, consulting services for new businesses that are required to strengthen Companywide efforts, troubleshooting related to new technologies such as LNG fuel engines, and the provision of training of seafarers.

The “K” ARE Program is an initiative that aims to improve the non-technical skills of our employees, such as communication and decision-making, in addition to technical skills, to ensure safety in navigation and cargo operation.To date, we have focused on the non-technical skills for bridge resource management to build more effective teamwork among ship operators, but the “K” ARE Program aims to enhance non-technical skills in a wide range of situations on and offshore. 
From managers to front-line crew, we will work together across land and sea to foster a corporate culture of safety and prevent and eliminate accidents.

“K” Line-Drive to No Accident (K-DNA) is policy for safety equipment instllation that reflects accumlated knowledge and lessons learned from past accidents. K-DNA consists of equipment installation standards for Navigation, Engine, Safety, and piracy countermeasures. By gathering expertise from all segments, we are continuously developing and strengthening hardware safety in our fleets. Namely, this is the very DNA of “K” LINE’s history of safety in operations.

In 2015, we launched our new Accident Information Management System (AIMS), with the aim of processing accident cases appropriately and swiftly, analyzing accident trends, and formulating effective prevention measures.
We are taking various steps to eliminate accidents, using this system to analyze accident details and trends and to explore in depth the root causes of accidents. By creating a database of accident information, moreover, we are able to share information with our worldwide network in a timely manner and establish optimal safety measures.

Reports of near misses resulting from unsafe behavior on vessels are carefully analyzed by seasoned maritime technical personnel stationed onshore, and the results are communicated back to vessels. By embedding a no-blame culture, where the party who made the near miss is not held responsible, we receive thousands of reports annually, which helps safety awareness to take root on the front lines.

The number of piracy incidents off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden has remained low in recent years due to countermeasures undertaken by troops from various nations, including the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). Nevertheless, the situation could easily be reversed if the international community weakens its efforts. Moreover, piracy related losses still occur frequently in the Gulf of Guinea (West Africa) and in Southeast Asia. Accordingly, conditions for merchant ship navigation remain unpredictable.
Off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, we endeavor as much as possible to receive protection from the JMSDF and the navies of various countries. For our own self-defense, we do everything possible to ensure the safety of crew as our top priority. This includes avoiding problematic areas, maintaining high speeds, using high-pressure water nozzles for defense, installing razor wire to prevent unauthorized embarkation, and wearing bullet-proof vests and helmets.
Because it is difficult to prevent pirates from gaining access to slow-speed and low-freeboard vessels, we take various other countermeasures, such as having private armed security guards on board our vessels as a deterrent.

Safety in navigation and cargo operations is an immutable mission in running a shipping business. Over the past five years, two oil spills have resulted from one grounding and one collision. In both cases, we took appropriate measures to minimize damage.