NYK, JMU to guarantee propulsion in actual sea conditions in new contract

Japanese shipping major NYK Line and Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU) are introducing a new shipbuilding contract that guarantees propulsion performance in actual sea conditions.

Shipbuilding contracts typically guarantee ship speed by confirming the relationship between ship speed and horsepower in calm sea conditions without waves. Mutual confirmation then occurs during the sea trials that are conducted during construction.

However, calm voyages without wind and waves are rare during commercial voyages, and stormy weather conditions are often encountered.

Therefore, it is generally the obligation of shipping companies to identify and procure ships that have good propulsion performance in actual weather conditions.

NYK said that with the improvement of satellite communications at sea and the progress of IoT technology, it has become possible to collect a variety of useful data.

The move comes as NYK Line looks to differentiate itself from fierce competition in ship performance.

“After a ship goes into service, we will collect necessary data for a certain period of time, verify the data, and confirm the degree of achievement of the guarantee,” the company said.

“This performance guarantee will confirm the relationship between ship speed and horsepower under sea conditions that include wind and waves.”

NYK Line and JMU plan to implement a PDCA improvement process and jointly work on the construction of other ship types in the future.

In the process, the duo will avail of the experience from joint research and a common understanding of data processing, storage, analysis methods, etc. that is being fed back into ship design to improve performance.

“We plan to further develop this guarantee for verification of propulsion performance for many ship types, which is difficult to do in sea trials at the time of construction,” the company added.

“We will conduct discussions with our partner shipyards on the performance of vessels in the actual sea conditions and make further improvements. By providing customers with well-performing vessels, we will also contribute to improving environmental consciousness throughout the supply chain.”

The push is in line with NYK Group’s ESG initiatives found in the company’s medium-term management plan Staying Ahead 2022 with Digitalization and Green.

The strategy also includes the operation of green terminals and the introduction of renewable energy into its operations.

Consistent with those efforts, from October 1, electricity sourced from renewable energy will be used at Yokohama Daikoku C-3 Terminal, which began operations in August as the first finished-car logistics terminal in Japan operated by NYK.

The initiative will also contribute to the city of Yokohama in achieving the goals of its Zero Carbon Yokohama plan.

The renewable electricity that will be used at this terminal will be generated at the Minehama Wind Power Plant, located in Happo town in Akita prefecture, and come from 100% renewable energy sources.

NYK Line revised its forecast for Q2 result of the 2021 fiscal year making an upward prediction.

The revenue expectation was upgraded from ¥706 million to ¥ 720 million, while the company’s profit attributable to owners of parent was revised from ¥ 9,500 million to ¥ 18,000 million.

The company attributed the upgrade to firm spot freight rates in liner trade amid improvement in supply and demand, and higher than expected earnings in air cargo transportation.