Track Record of “K” LINE Innovation

A worldwide container evolution with the integration of maritime transportation, land transportation, and terminal operations has started in the 1960s. Against this background, our first full containership, GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, which began servicing the North American route in 1968, became a pioneer of containerization in Japan. Subsequently, all of the major routes were containerized by 1975. In 1971, we independently opened an overseas containership route, connecting between third countries, the Far East - North America Pacific Coast route—an unprecedented challenge at the time.

Japan’s first car carrier, TOYOTA MARU NO. 10, was built by “K” LINE. We named it a “pure car carrier (PCC),” a term that then has become synonymous with such vessels. High-level quality control is required to ship automobiles, which are unpackaged cargo, without causing damage. The number of companies that can provide such service is limited. For half a century, “K” LINE has enhanced such service quality as a pioneer in automobile transportation, and built a solid position not only in Japan but also in third countries’ car transportation. 

Natural gas is attracting attention as a form of clean energy for power generation fuel and utility gas. LNG, liquefied natural gas at a temperature of –162˚C, was first imported into Japan in 1969. LNG transportation to Japan was entrusted to foreign shipping companies, but in 1983 “K” LINE’s BISHU MARU became Japan’s first LNG carrier, servicing the Japan–Indonesia route. To this day, we contribute to the long-term stabilization of energy supply in Japan.

Once it has been packed into a container, “Containerization” enables the integrated and connected transportation of cargo, using various transportation means covering the ocean, land, and air. Deploying these merits, “K” LINE in 1986 became the first Japanese shipping company to build a two-level dedicated container train, called Double-Stack Train, which serviced the North American continent. In addition to considerably, shortening transportation time, this led to much-greater accuracy of transportation schedules and contributed significantly to rationalization of logistics in the era of internationalization. 

In 2015, we completed construction of MILLAU BRIDGE, a very large (14,000TEU) containership. In addition to the enlargement of ship’s design to increase transportation efficiency, we adopted a host of innovative technologies, including state-of-the-art paint applied to the outer surface of hull plates to reduce frictional resistance to seawater, a bow cover to minimize wind resistance, and engine room fans to reduce power consumption in a vessel. Such kind of energy-saving technologies have enabled us to save operation costs, further strengthen competitiveness, and contribute to environmental protection.

In response to the world-wide serious environmental issues like marine pollution, ecosystem protection, air pollution, and global warming, DRIVE GREEN HIGHWAY, a large car carrier with a capacity of 7,500 vehicles was completed as our world-leading environmentally-friendly flagship. Combining multiple advanced environmental technologies, the vessel allows significant emission reductions of not only air pollutants (SO_{X}, NO_{X}) but also CO_{2}, a cause of global warming. She was awarded “Ship of the Year 2016” by the Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers.