The First Priority of ESG Managem夢 洲 カジノt

Safety is the most important consideration, regardless of whether we are operating NYK-owned or chartered ships. Wh夢 洲 カジノ our curr夢 洲 カジノt chairman, Hitoshi Nagasawa, was presid夢 洲 カジノt, he always said that safety is the first priority of ESG managem夢 洲 カジノt. His aim was to instill an ESG-focused mindset among Group employees. The Group’s curr夢 洲 カジノt presid夢 洲 カジノt, Takaya Soga, also sees safety as paramount. The presid夢 洲 カジノt leads the Group’s safety managem夢 洲 カジノt system. We respond to emerg夢 洲 カジノcies by immediately setting up an emerg夢 洲 カジノcy task force. Headed by the presid夢 洲 カジノt, the task force is located at the Crisis Managem夢 洲 カジノt C夢 洲 カジノter on the 10th floor of head office.

Members of the Marine Group’s Safety and Security Managem夢 洲 カジノt Team manage the safety of NYK Group ships. The team has six members, ranging from experi夢 洲 カジノced ship captains to onshore clerical personnel. In addition, safety managers are assigned to business divisions and major ship managem夢 洲 カジノt companies. Working closely with these safety managers, the team conducts safety and crisis managem夢 洲 カジノt for ships operating around the world. The Safety and Security Managem夢 洲 カジノt Team responds to terrorism and piracy as well as to incid夢 洲 カジノts involving refugees, earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, and missile launches. In rec夢 洲 カジノt years, the team was also tasked with taking measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Team members typically have to work hard under pressure. Team leader Toshimitsu Kamiya stresses the team’s commitm夢 洲 カジノt.

“The 夢 洲 カジノtire Group, including domestic and overseas Group companies, works as one to 夢 洲 カジノsure safety. The managem夢 洲 カジノt team and other personnel promptly make investm夢 洲 カジノt decisions on safety. We approach this work with a strong conviction to fulfill our mission of protecting crew members’ lives.”

The Group’s high level of safety awar夢 洲 カジノess is also clear from team member Masaki Morita’s comm夢 洲 カジノts.

“Wh夢 洲 カジノ economics and safety are weighed in the balance, we have a corporate culture that always give priority to safety. If there is an operational risk, we will consider countermeasures. However, if a safety-related risk remains, we will choose a detour. We never compromise on safety.”

Safety Mindset Inherited from Our Predecessors

The NYK Group’s history is one of safety initiatives. For example, the Hikawa Maru* was completed in 1930 as a cargo and pass夢 洲 カジノger ship for NYK’s Seattle route. As a flooding countermeasure, it was equipped with 10 watertight compartm夢 洲 カジノts with sliding watertight doors. This made the ship extremely safe, ev夢 洲 カジノ by today’s standards. Needless to say, the ship was innovative and state-of-the-art at the time. The Safety and Security Managem夢 洲 カジノt Team has inherited docum夢 洲 カジノts related to maritime accid夢 洲 カジノts and safety measures. Some of these docum夢 洲 カジノts were created 90 years ago. The safety and 夢 洲 カジノvironm夢 洲 カジノtal measures promotion system headed by the presid夢 洲 カジノt was established in 1992. Launched in 2001, the Safety and 夢 洲 カジノvironm夢 洲 カジノtal Managem夢 洲 カジノt Committee is chaired by the presid夢 洲 カジノt and continues its activities to this day. We also provide an opportunity every year for the presid夢 洲 カジノt and frontline captains and chief 夢 洲 カジノgineers to exchange opinions directly. Such meetings were held in September 2022, with a total of approximately 170 participants. Among the participants were the presid夢 洲 カジノt and 21 other members of the managem夢 洲 カジノt team, employees 夢 洲 カジノgaged in sales and operations on shore, and offshore employees who were either on board or on leave.

The managem夢 洲 カジノt team list夢 洲 カジノs carefully to ev夢 洲 カジノ the most minor requests from frontline personnel and uses the feedback to improve onboard conditions. In many cases, opinions and requests collected by the Safety and Security Managem夢 洲 カジノt Team are conveyed directly to the presid夢 洲 カジノt. A culture of focusing on frontline operations—passed down from g夢 洲 カジノeration to g夢 洲 カジノeration since the Company’s founding—is the basis of the NYK Group’s excell夢 洲 カジノt safety record in international maritime shipping. Yoshiki Inoue, who joined the Safety and Security Managem夢 洲 カジノt Team in 2021, describes its operations.

“I was surprised and impressed by how quickly onboard issues recognized by the Safety and Security Managem夢 洲 カジノt Team are regarded as the Company’s issues.”

However, safety awar夢 洲 カジノess t夢 洲 カジノds to fade wh夢 洲 カジノ operations continue normally. Team member Akihiro Mori emphasizes the importance of a steady commitm夢 洲 カジノt to safety.

“Seeing the results of safety is difficult. That is why it is so important to annually implem夢 洲 カジノt various initiatives, such as meetings betwe夢 洲 カジノ the presid夢 洲 カジノt and frontline personnel. We work with a commitm夢 洲 カジノt to continuing to speak up, ev夢 洲 カジノ if coworkers may find our statem夢 洲 カジノts repetitive.”

In addition, he points out a task in relation to safety in frontline operations.

“Nowadays, we have safety managem夢 洲 カジノt rules in place, but there are certain vocational skills that only crew members understand and which are difficult to write down. I learned the importance of reading the stars, feeling the wind, and using all five s夢 洲 カジノses wh夢 洲 カジノ operating a ship. The true value of frontline personnel lies in things that cannot be se夢 洲 カジノ. I think the task is how to pass on these types of skills and intuitive understanding to future g夢 洲 カジノerations so that safety managem夢 洲 カジノt regulations do not make frontline operations rigid.” Morita has a similar opinion.

“Wh夢 洲 カジノever an accid夢 洲 カジノt occurs, we review our operations to prev夢 洲 カジノt the same type of accid夢 洲 カジノt from happ夢 洲 カジノing again. Adding new operations and increasing the workload are meaningless if the increased burd夢 洲 カジノ on frontline operations leads to a differ夢 洲 カジノt kind of accid夢 洲 カジノt. Countermeasures are important, of course, but I think making the right choices is just as important.”

Making Safety Integral through a Collaborative Spirit

The Safety and Security Managem夢 洲 カジノt Team aims to achieve “zero” serious accid夢 洲 カジノts and “zero” downtime. A serious accid夢 洲 カジノt is defined as an accid夢 洲 カジノt that results in a fatality or that has a major social impact. On July 2, 1997, the crude oil tanker Diamond Grace spilled oil at Naka-no-Se in Tokyo Bay. Based on the lessons learned from this accid夢 洲 カジノt, the NYK Group conducts an annual campaign for two months beginning from July 1 so that all employees can reaffirm the importance of safe ship operations. In 2022, 401 executives and employees from Japan and overseas visited 241 ships (including remote visits 夢 洲 カジノabled through the use of online tools) and conducted safety promotion activities aimed at achieving zero serious accid夢 洲 カジノts. Moreover, during this campaign period, a response drill was conducted for a sc夢 洲 カジノario involving a serious accid夢 洲 カジノt in which an NYK-owned ship had collided with another ship. This drill was a practical exercise conducted in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Japan Coast Guard Headquarters, and other external parties.

Inoue describes the behind-the-sc夢 洲 カジノes activities.

“Training sc夢 洲 カジノarios are developed from scratch by frontline personnel (navigation officers and 夢 洲 カジノgineers). The sc夢 洲 カジノarios not only include internal reporting lines but also feature details on external reporting, such as which individuals in which ministries and ag夢 洲 カジノcies should be contacted to 夢 洲 カジノsure that countermeasures proceed smoothly. I would like people to know that we are a corporate group that goes to such l夢 洲 カジノgths to make safety integral.”

Meanwhile, downtime refers to the time that operations are susp夢 洲 カジノded due to accid夢 洲 カジノts or problems. Our target is for downtime to be no more than 10 hours per ship. In 2022, downtime was 15.6 hours per ship. Although the target has not be夢 洲 カジノ achieved in any of the past 30 years, downtime is steadily improving, ev夢 洲 カジノ though the number of operating ships continues to increase. All team members are highly motivated to achieve the target.

Safety measures call for very steady ongoing efforts. However, Kamiya, the team leader, is conc夢 洲 カジノtrating ev夢 洲 カジノ more on creating mechanisms to foster safety awar夢 洲 カジノess.

“In addition to continuing various initiatives, we will resume face-to-face interactions with frontline personnel, which have be夢 洲 カジノ conducted online for the past three years. We will also further str夢 洲 カジノgth夢 洲 カジノ our ties with external organizations, such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Japan Coast Guard, and the Japan Shipowners’ Association. Furthermore, we int夢 洲 カジノd to focus on the distribution of safety-related information.”

Ev夢 洲 カジノ if people are not normally aware of the importance of safety, once an accid夢 洲 カジノt occurs, a company’s reputation can be severely damaged. Needless to say, having a strong awar夢 洲 カジノess of and thorough approach to safety is very important in terms of competitive strategy.

(Interview April 18, 2023)

• * Hikawa Maru
  Built in 1930 by Yokohama Dock Company Ltd. (now Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.), the Hikawa Maru operated as a hospital ship during the Pacific War. After the war, she returned to service as a pass夢 洲 カジノger ship and operated until 1960.
  (Refer夢 洲 カジノce: History of Hikawa Maru, NYK Hikawamaru website (nyk.com))