Relationship with the Community

The “K” LINE Group, as a good corporate citizen, will make ongoing efforts to contribute to social development and improvement and support employees’ voluntary participation in such activities.

• “K” LINE will identify social issues through dialogue with stakeholders and contribute to local communities by making use of its resources.
• “K” LINE will further and proactively contribute to society through cooperation and collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders, including NPOs/NGOs, local communities, government agencies, and international organizations.
• “K” LINE will support its employees’ voluntary participation in social activities such as volunteer work.
• “K” LINE will prepare for possible relief and aid for disasters or marine accidents and extend social contributions by taking advantage of its know-how and technology, including by transporting necessary resources when needed.
• “K” LINE will provide financial assistance, such as donations, as needed, to help recovery of disaster-stricken areas in the event of a disaster in countries or regions that have close relationships with our business, while supporting education and activities 
that contribute to the development of the shipping industry.

The “K” LINE Group believes that contributing to the medium- and long-term development of local communities and international society through educational support and job creation is also an important corporate social responsibility. With this in mind, we contribute to the development of excellent seafarers around the world through our support of maritime technical personnel education. We also foster job creation and skills development in the areas where we operate businesses.

To assist with prompt recovery in areas affected by natural disasters, we collaborate through free transportation of cargo to support people affected by natural disasters, mainly for regions within our service area.

The “K” LINE Group has established a close relationship with Latin American countries over many years, assuming the role of honorary consul of El Salvador since 1969, as well as past chairmanship of the Japan–Chile Association (established in 1940) and The Japan–Peru Association (established in 1954). It has therefore been providing free ocean transportation of fire engines and ambulances donated by Japanese authorities to countries such as Peru and El Salvador. When we first started free ocean transportation in 2014, El Salvador had just 19 fire engines for the whole country. By 2020, however, we had delivered a total of 22 fire engines and ambulances to enhance the country’s fire control service.

We offer visits to and tours of our vessels and terminals for children from the local communities where our vessels call. We also host study tours of our Machida Training Center in Tokyo for children who live nearby.

Since April 2021, “K” LINE has been helping create working opportunities for people with disabilities by outsourcing a part of the recycling process for used lashing materials used in pure car carriers (PCCs) to the workplace of Continuous Employment Support Type B(※).
Lashing materials are used to tightly secure vehicles on decks of PCCs to keep stability during transportation at sea. These materials need to be replaced with new ones due to deterioration over time. In the past, these materials were treated as industrial waste, but since 2016, we have been recycling them with cooperation from Global Technos, Ltd., in Yokohama and Daito Corporation, a Group company, in order to reduce the environmental burden. The whole recycling process is completed in Kanagawa Prefecture to minimize road transportation and contribute to reducing CO2 emissions. Furthermore, by outsourcing the disassembling process of lashing materials to Seiten, a workplace of Continuous Employment Support Type B operated by Dekkaisora, an NPO in Yokohama, we are helping create employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

※A welfare service that allows people who have difficulty finding employment at general companies to work in workplaces that offer a certain level of support. There is neither an employment agreement nor a working period limit.

The “K” LINE Group organizes annual internship programs for students of nautical colleges. The program consists of an introduction to our business operations and lectures related to the operation and management of ships, as well as visits to our vessels and workshops to discuss issues related to the shipping industry.

In order to raise awareness of social contribution among employees and management, “K” LINE has a special section on its intranet portal that highlights social contribution activities, including volunteer opportunities, circular reports on volunteer activities, and an opinion box. We also have a post-volunteering questionnaire, the feedback from which we use to inform future activities.

In Chiyoda-ku, where our Tokyo head office is located, the “K” LINE Group has been conducting a voluntary cleanup activity at lunchtime in cooperation with other companies located in the same building as its head office. Through casual participation in lunchtime activities, this has become an opportunity for employees to build awareness of environmental preservation and contribute to the local community.

Since fiscal 2023, we have joined the “Chiyoda Volunteer Club,” a volunteer organization of Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo and have been participating in volunteer activities as a partner in community welfare.

Our group companies worldwide are also engaged in various activities to contribute to local communities.

Since fiscal 2023, the “K” LINE Group companies have been conducting worldwide simultaneous cleanup activities, during a period before and after World Oceans Day* on June 8.

*World Oceans Day was officially designated by the United Nations in 2009 to raise global awareness of the benefits humankind derives from the ocean and our individual and collective duty to use its resources sustainably. On that day, awareness-raising events such as ocean cleanup are held over 100 countries every year.  

The “K” LINE Group provides donations as needed to support the recovery of disaster-stricken areas in the event of a disaster in countries or regions that have close relationships with our business. In fiscal 2023, we made financial contributions through the Japanese Red Cross Society for the relief of those affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake and for the restoration and reconstruction of the affected areas. In addition, we handed over voluntary relief donations from executives and employees of our Group companies to the Society.

*1 Includes officers and employees of Group companies

*2 Postponed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic