Asia/Pacific News
Fuel Efficiency Helped NYK Line Succeed in 2013
Efficiency improvements, particularly reductions in fuel consumption, helped Japan's Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line (NYK Line) succeed in 2013, despite a difficult market and high bunker prices, President Yasumi Kudo said in his New Year statement.
Kudo said the shipping company reduced "muda," or wasted activity, through initiatives including its "Innovative Bunker and Idle-time Saving" (IBIS) project, which shares real-time information between land and ships to economise ship movements, and an air-lubrication system adopted on the vessel Soyo to increase fuel efficiency.
NYK Line's liner business also adopted the EAGLE Project, which minimises empty container movements and adjusts freight fees for cargo going to destinations that will require the shipment of an empty container on the return voyage.
"This project has already begun to produce impressive results," Kudo said.
Kudo also said other efforts, including an expansion of NYK Line's LNG business beyond shipping and into the upstream and midstream businesses, as well as a growing focus on logistics, show promise for the future.
At the same time, he said, the company has been focused on how it can add value to its conventional shipping businesses.
"With the rampant comodification of most types of vessels, we needed to figure out a way to differentiate ourselves from the competition and maintain a certain level of profits," he said.
"Our solution was to use the same vessels but transport goods in a safer, more dependable, yet cheaper way than competitors."
Kudo said that has been possible thanks to the focus on reducing waste and the company's front-line capabilities.
NYK Line received recognition for IBIS and other environmentally friendly initiatives last year.
