Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...

company and is a member of the

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

keiretsu A is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. In the legal sense, it is a type of informal business group that are loosely organized alliances within the social world of Japan's business community. The ''ke ...

''. The company headquarters are located in

Chiyoda, Tokyo is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.Profile< ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It operates a fleet of about 800 ships, which includes

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...

, bulk and woodchip carriers,

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

car carriers, reefer vessels,

LNG carrier An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). History The first LNG carrier ''Methane Pioneer'' () carrying , classed by Bureau Veritas, left the Calcasieu River on the Louisiana Gulf coast on 25 January ...

s, and cruise ships. Currently, it is a member of the

Ocean Network Express Ocean Network Express Holdings, Ltd. (ONE) is a Japanese container transportation and shipping company jointly owned by the Japanese shipping Lines Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and K Line. Launched in 2017 as a joint venture, ONE i ...

company.

History

1870-1900

The company traces its history back to the ''Tsukumo Shokai'' shipping company founded by the Tosa clan in 1870. In 1875, as the renamed ''Mitsubishi Shokai'', the company inaugurated Japan's first

passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

service, with a route from

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

; in that same year, the company name was changed to Mitsubishi Mail Steamship Company. In 1885, a merger with ''Kyodo Unyu Kaisha'' (founded 1882) led to the adoption of the company's present name.NYK
History.
/ref> The merged company had a fleet of 58

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

s and expanded its operations rapidly, first to other Asian ports and then worldwide, with a line service to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

established in 1896 and to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1899. The company's ''Katori Maru'' was used by

Chinese Muslims Islam has been practiced in China since the 7th century CE.. Muslims are a minority group in China, representing 1.6-2 percent of the total population (21,667,000- 28,210,795) according to various estimates. Though Hui Muslims are the most numero ...

to travel to Singapore on their way to Makkah for the ''hajj'' in 1925. From there, the company had the pilgrims travel on board other Japanese steamships to Suez and then to Makkah. The company promised to take responsibility for all the necessary formalities and helped contact other local transportation agencies that could take the pilgrims to Makkah. Chinese pilgrims were promised a 20% discount for their tickets. A third-class ticket that sold for £5/10/0 would be £4/8/0, while a second-class ticket sold for £14/0/0 would be sold for £11/5/0.

1900-1945

The majority of Japanese merchant ships, tankers, and liners sailed under the NYK banner in this period. Regular services linked

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

and

with South America,

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, with frequent crossings to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

. Other routes connected local Chinese

cabotage Cabotage () is the transport of goods or passengers between two places in the same country. It originally applied to shipping along coastal routes, port to port, but now applies to aviation, railways, and road transport as well. Cabotage rights ar ...

vessels on the Chinese coasts and upper

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

. Ocean routes went east from Japan to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

(Canada) or Seattle. Another way was to stop in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, which continued to San Francisco and the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

. The next commercial routes were south from Japan, across the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

. These went to Southeast Asia, the China coasts, and towards India and the Indian Ocean, to Europe or Batavia (

Dutch Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

), or

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The fastest services took 10 days from Yokohama to Seattle, and one month to Europe. Local sea routes connected 78 home seaports (38 open to foreign trade). Yokohama, Kobe, and Osaka had the greatest importance for trading with Japan. These ports had the third, fourth, and eighth place in net tonnage registered in the world. Coal passed from Moji to Osaka and Yokohama.

Karafuto Karafuto Prefecture ( ja, 樺太庁, ''Karafuto-chō''; russian: Префектура Карафуто, Prefektura Karafuto), commonly known as South Sakhalin, was a prefecture of Japan located in Sakhalin from 1907 to 1949. Karafuto became t ...

timber represented a third part of local trade.

Soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...

products from

Dairen Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...

and Ryojun arrived at Yokohama. The

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

of the

South Seas Mandate The South Seas Mandate, officially the Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the Equator, was a League of Nations mandate in the "South Seas" given to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations following Wo ...

and

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

, cotton, salt, and minerals represented other important parts of these transport transactions. In 1926,

Toyo Kisen Line Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi '' keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a ...

(TKK), with its fleet of nine ships, merged with NYK. The current funnel livery was introduced in 1929. The company also ran services connecting metropolitan Japan to its exterior provinces ( Chosen,

Kwantung The Kwantung Leased Territory ( ja, 關東州, ''Kantō-shū''; ) was a leased territory of the Empire of Japan in the Liaodong Peninsula from 1905 to 1945. Japan first acquired Kwantung from the Qing Empire in perpetuity in 1895 in the Trea ...

and South Mandate) of the Empire. From 1924, all new cargo ships for NYK were

motor ship A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The names of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V. Engines for motorships were developed during the 1890s, and by t ...

s. NYK introduced its first passenger motor ships in 1929, but continued to buy a mixture of steam and motor passenger ships until 1939. In World War II, the NYK Line provided military transport and

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...

s for the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. Many vessels were sunk by the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

navies, and installations and ports were attacked from the air. Only 37 NYK ships survived the war. The company lost 185 ships in support of military operations in the Pacific. Before the war, NYK had 36 passenger ships; by the time of

Japan's surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

only one, the motor ship ''

Hikawa Maru is a Japanese ocean liner that Yokohama Dock Company built for '' Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha'' ("NYK Line"). She was launched on 30 September 1929 and made her maiden voyage from Kobe to Seattle on 13 May 1930. She is permanently berthed as ...

'', survived. NYK's surviving vessels and equipment were confiscated by the Allied authorities as reparations, or taken by recently liberated Asian states in 1945-46.

Shipping Control Authority for the Japanese Merchant Marine The Shipping Control Authority for the Japanese Merchant Marine (SCAJAP) was an organization established by Allied forces in the occupation of Japan after the end of World War II. Purpose # control over all ships greater than 100 gross tons oper ...

requisitioned ''Hikawa Maru'' as a transport ship to repatriate Japanese soldiers and civilians from territories that had been liberated from Japanese occupation.

Fleet until 1945

The NYK tonnage expanded in bursts, responding to changes economic conditions and perceived changes in the market for passenger liner travel. The evolution of the fleet mirrors some of those developments. In the following lists, the dates of maiden voyages are indicated with each ship's name. Amongst the many ships in the early NYK fleet, some names comprise serial categories.ShipsList
NYK Line fleet
Some ships were named after

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

shrines, and others were named after ancient

provinces of Japan were first-level administrative divisions of Japan from the 600s to 1868. Provinces were established in Japan in the late 7th century under the Ritsuryō law system that formed the first central government. Each province was divided into and ...

cities of Japan A is a local administrative unit in Japan. Cities are ranked on the same level as and , with the difference that they are not a component of . Like other contemporary administrative units, they are defined by the Local Autonomy Law of 1947. C ...

, mountains of Japan or

islands of Japan Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands, of which approximately 260 are inhabited. Japan is the largest island country in East Asia and the fourth largest in the world. Main islands The four ''main islands'' of Japan are:Imperial Japanese ...

. Some ships had explicitly non-Japanese names, such as ships named after cities. Shinto shrines
''

Chichibu Maru The was a Japanese passenger ship which, renamed ''Kamakura Maru'', was sunk during World War II, killing 2,035 soldiers and civilians on board. The ''Chichibu Maru'' was built for the Nippon Yusen shipping company by the Yokohama Dock Company. ...

'' (1930).
''

Hie Maru Hie may refer to: * Hie (pronoun), an Old English pronoun * Hie Shrine, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo, Japan * Hie Station, in Nishiwaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan * Health information exchange * Highlands and Islands Enterprise * Holiday Inn Expre ...

'' (1930).
'' Heian Maru'' (1930).
''

'' (1930).
'' Kasuga Maru'' (1940).
''

Kitano Maru is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, filmmaker, and author. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. With th ...

'' (1909).
''

Nitta Maru Nitta may refer to: Places * Nitta, Sweden, a locality in Ulricehamn Municipality, Västra Götaland County of Sweden * Nitta, Gunma; a.k.a. Nitta, Nitta, Gunma, Japan. A town in the district of Nitta of the prefecture of Gunma in Japan * Nitta D ...

'' (1939).
''

Tatsuta Maru , was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). The ship was built in 1927–1929 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was named after Tatsuta Jinja an important Shinto shrine in Nara ...

'' (1930).
''Terukuni Maru'' (1930).
''

Yawata Maru is a city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. the city has an estimated population of 70,433 and a population density of 2,893 persons per km². The total area is 24.35 km². The city was founded on November 1, 1977 and currently has a s ...

'' (1939)
Provinces
''Awa Maru'' (1899).
''Awa Maru'' (1943).
''

Kaga Maru __NOTOC__ Kaga may refer to: Places * Kaga, Ishikawa, a city in Japan. * Kaga Province, an old province of Japan, now part of Ishikawa prefecture. * Kaga Domain, an old feudal domain (''han'') in Kaga Province * Kaga, Nigeria, a Local Government Ar ...

'' (19__).
'' Noto Maru'' (1934).
''Tango Maru'' (1905). Mountains
''

Asama Maru was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). The ship was built in 1927–1929 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was named after an important Shinto shrine. ''Asama Maru'' set a reco ...

'' (1929).
''

Maya Maru Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popula ...

'' (1925).
'' Rokko Maru'' (1923). Cities
''Asuka Maru'' (1924).
''Calcutta Maru'' (1917).
''Dakar Maru'' (1920).
''Durban Maru'' (1920).
''Hakone Maru'' (1921)
''

Lima Maru ''Lima Maru'' was a 6,989-ton Japanese troop transport during World War II, which sank on 8 February 1944 with great loss of life. The ''Lima Maru'' was built in 1920 by the Mitsubishi Zosen Kaisha in Nagasaki for the Nippon Yusen shipping compan ...

'' (1920).
''

Lisbon Maru ''Lisbon Maru'' () was a Japanese cargo liner built at Yokohama in 1920 for a Japanese shipping line. During World War II, the ship was turned into an armed troopship. On her final voyage, ''Lisbon Maru'' was being used to transport prisoners o ...

'' (1920).
''

Lyons Maru Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

'' (1920). Miscellaneous
''

Korea Maru Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and Sout ...

'' (1901).
''

Kyushu Maru is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

'' (1862).
''

Rosetta Maru Rosetta or Rashid (; ar, رشيد ' ; french: Rosette ; cop, ϯⲣⲁϣⲓⲧ ''ti-Rashit'', Ancient Greek: Βολβιτίνη ''Bolbitinē'') is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira Governorate, Beheir ...

'' (1900).
''

Siberia Maru Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

'' (1901).
''

Taiyo Maru The steam ship ''Cap Finisterre'' was a German transatlantic ocean liner of the early 20th century, which was transferred to Japan in 1920 as German war reparations, and renamed on trans-Pacific routes. She was sunk on army service by an Ameri ...

'' (1911).
''

Toyama Maru ''Toyama Maru'' (富山丸) was a 7,089-ton Japanese troop transport during World War II. On 29 June 1944, ''Toyama Maru'' was transporting over 6,000 men of the Japanese 44th Independent Mixed Brigade when she was torpedoed and sunk by the sub ...

'' (1915).
''

Yoshida Maru The was a Japanese cargo ship owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was built in 1941 by Hakodate Dock at Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaidō. History The ''Yoshida Maru'' was built at Hakodate; and she left port in August 1941 ...

'' (1941).

Fleet in post-war era

The modern NYK tonnage encompasses a variety of ship names. Some names form series, as in those ships named after

flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

, star constellations, and

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of pre- Meiji Japan. Flowers
''ACX Cherry'' (1994)NYK
fleet list
/ref>
''ACX Hibiscus'' (1997)
''ACX Jasmine'' (1996)
''ACX Lily'' (1990)
''ACX Magnolia'' (1998)
''ACX Marguerite'' (1997)
''ACX Salvia'' (1997)
''Plumeria Leader'' (2022) Stars
''Altair Leader'' (2011)
''NYK Altair'' (2010)
''NYK Canopus'' (1998)
''NYK Deneb'' (2007)
''NYK Rigel'' (2009)
''NYK Sirius'' (1998)
''

NYK Vega ''NYK Vega'' is a container ship, operated by Nippon Yusen Ship Management. The vessel has a capacity of 8,600 containers in company calculations and 9,012 TEU in International Maritime Organization calculations. The difference comes from the u ...

'' (2006)
''Rigel Leader'' (2011)
Constellations
''Andromeda Leader'' (2007)
''Aphrodite Leader'' (2007)
''Apollon Leader'' (2007)
''Aries Leader'' (2014)New Car Carrier Aries Leader Delivered
/ref>
''

Auriga Leader ''Auriga Leader'' is a car carrier, owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and used for mobile machineries and cars worldwide; for example, Mitsubishi vehicles from Japan to the rest of the world. A small amount of the ship's power is produced by photovo ...

'' (2008)NYK-Nippon Oil Joint Project
The World First Solar-Powered Ship Sails

''Cepheus Leader'' (2006)
''Cetus Leader'' (2005)
''Equuleus Leader'' (2005)
''NYK Antares'' (1997)
''NYK Leo'' (2002)
''NYK Orion'' (2008)
''NYK Pegasus'' (2003)
''NYK Phoenix'' (2003)
''

NYK Virgo ''NYK Virgo'' is a container ship owned by the Barlett Marine Corp. Hull and engine ''NYK Virgo'' has a Burmeister & Wain single screw 12 cylinder engine, with a top speed of 24 knots. It was built in Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries in port nu ...

'' (2007)
''Volans Leader'' (2003)
Provinces
''Iga Maru'' (1996)
''Izu Maru'' (1997)
''Izumo Maru'' (1997)
''Kaga Maru'' (1988)
''Sanuki Maru'' (1997)
''Settsu Maru'' (1997)
''Shima Maru'' (1997) Miscellaneous
''Asama Maru'' (1954)
''Astoria Maru'' (1952)
''Galaxy Leader'' (2002)
''Hakone Maru'' (1968)
''Hikawa Maru'' (1974)
''Zeus Leader'' (2009)

1950-present

By the mid-1950s NYK ships were again seen around the world. As the demand for passenger ships dwindled in the 1960s, NYK expanded its cargo operation, running Japan's first

''Hakone Maru'' on a route to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1968 and soon establishing container ship routes to many other ports. NYK became a partner in

Nippon Cargo Airlines , or NCA, is a cargo airline with its head office on the property of Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, outside Tokyo. It operates scheduled cargo services in Asia and to Europe and North America. Its main base is Narita ...

in 1978, and in 1985, added

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

container train service in cooperation with

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

. NYK revived its passenger ship business in 1989 with

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

s operated by its newly formed subsidiary

Crystal Cruises } Crystal Cruises is a cruise line now headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 1988 by Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and sold to Hong Kong-headquartered conglomerate Genting Hong Kong in 2015. Following in ...

. In 1990 NYK resumed passenger services under its own name when entered service on the Japanese cruise market. In 2006 ''Asuka'' was replaced by the much larger , formerly Crystal Cruises' ''Crystal Harmony''. At the end of March 2008, the NYK Group was operating about 776 major ocean vessels, as well as fleets of planes, trains, and trucks. The company's shipping fleet includes around 155 containerships, 286 bulk carriers, 55 woodchip carriers, 113 car carriers, 21 reefer carriers, 78 tankers, 30 LNG carriers, and three cruise ships. NYK's revenue in fiscal 2007 was about US$26 billion, and as a group NYK employs about 55,000 people worldwide. The company has offices in 240 places in 27 countries, warehouses on nearly every continent, and harbor operations in Asia, North America, and Europe. NYK head office is based in Tokyo, and has regional headquarters in London, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, and São Paulo. During the first decade of 2000s, NYK reached a remarkable position within the Liner ranking, as one of top twelve companies in the number of containers carried, number one RORO Carrier, and one of the main player in LNG and break bulk transport fields, plus several prominent awards for its cruise service quality. In April 2014, eight container sister ships of a new series were commissioned, and two more units were inserted as options in the construction contract. Both options were converted into firm orders in July 2014. The building began in spring 2015 at the shipyard Japan Marine United in Kure,

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

. The first delivered ship of the ten units to be built within end of 2018, was ''mv NYK Blue Jay'' launched in 2016. All 10 vessels received names of bird species (therefore called the NYK-bird class). The ships are used on the European Far East route and are the largest container ships built in Japan so far, having a maximum container capacity of 14,026 TEU. In May 2021 NYK Line became the first Japanese shipping firm to join the Sustainable Shipping Initiative's Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative, which incorporates the

Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships The Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships, or Hong Kong Convention is a mulitateral convention adopted in 2009, which has not entered into force. The conference that created the convention ...

Merger of container operations

On Monday, 31 October 2016,

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is a Japanese transportation company. It owns a fleet that includes dry cargo ships (bulk carriers), container ships, liquefied natural gas carriers, Ro-Ro ships, tankers, and container terminals. It used to be the fourteenth largest containe ...

Mitsui OSK Lines Mitsui O.S.K. Lines ( ja, 株式会社商船三井, Kabushiki-gaisha Shōsen Mitsui; abbreviated MOL) is a Japanese transport Company (law), company headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest shipping companies in ...

and Nippon Yusen Kaisha agreed to merge their container shipping business by establishing a completely new joint venture company. The integration included their overseas terminal activities. The joint venture company operates under the name "

" (ONE), with the company headquarters in Japan (Tokyo), a global business operations headquarters in Singapore and regional headquarters in United Kingdom (London), United States (Richmond, VA), Hong Kong, and Brazil (São Paulo). The new company started its operations on 1 April 2018.

Container vessels fleet

Roll-on/roll-off division

NYK is also the world's largest

ocean carrier. NYK's RORO fleet has a 660,000 car capacity which represents just over 17% of the global car transportation fleet capacity. Over 123 vessels are deployed worldwide transporting cars manufactured in Japan, US, EU towards Asia, Middle East, North & South America, Australia, Africa and Europe. In addition to brand new cars, High and Heavy cargo (such as excavators, mobile cranes, new and used trucks and buses, trailers,

Mafi roll trailer A roll trailer is a trailer platform that requires towing by a powered vehicle. It is commonly used for the transport of heavy static goods and materials in the maritime shipping industry. Roll trailers are similar to shipping flat racks contai ...

s) and break bulk static pieces are carried all over the globe by NYK. Nippon Yusen Kaisha 1918 ad

References

Bibliography

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External links

Company website (in English)Regional website for NYK Group in Europe (in English)NYK HistoryMenus c.1900 & others from various Nippon Yusen oceanlinersNYK Line RORO

Image gallery

File:Nyk Aphrodite p5 approaching Port of Rotterdam, Holland 09-Apr-2007.jpg, NYK Aphrodite File:NYK Argus (ship, 2003) 001.jpg, NYK Argus File:NYK Meteor - IMO 9337638, Port of Antwerp, pic1.JPG, NYK Meteor File:NYK Fuji (ship, 2011) 001.jpg, NYK Fuji File:Nyk Venus, at the Amazone harbour, Port of Rotterdam, Holland 29-Aug-2007.jpg, NYK Venus File:Neubau NYK HELIOS der NYK LINE einkommend Hamburg Höhe Tinsdal.jpg, NYK Helios File:NYK Leo p2 15feb2008 IJmuiden 15-Feb-2008.jpg, NYK Leo File:NYK Libra (ship, 2002) 001.jpg, NYK Libra File:NYK Orpheus (ship, 2008) 001.jpg, NYK Orpheus File:Le Havre (France), NYK Vega in containers terminal (2013) 2.JPG, NYK Vega File:Nyk Vesta, at the Amazone harbour, Port of Rotterdam, Holland 08-Apr-2007.jpg, NYK Vesta File:Apollon Leader departs Barbados.jpg, Apollon Leader File:Pegasus Leader.jpg, Pegasus Leader File:Car carrier Pleiades Leader.jpg, Pleiades Leader File:Car carrier CASTOR LEADER au port de Casablanca.jpg, Castor Leader File:NYK Line - panoramio (1).jpg, Cetus Leader File:Car carrier Gentle Leader 1.jpg, Gentle Leader File:Car carrier Cepheus Leader.jpg, Cepheus Leader File:Eridanus Leader (2).jpg, Eridanus Leader File:Car Carrier Rhea Leader.jpg, Rhea Leader File:Car carrier Coral Leader River Weser.jpg, Coral Leader File:Car carrier Cygnus Leader.jpg, Cygnus Leader File:Car carrier Daedalus Leader.jpg, Daedalus Leader File:NYK Line Glorious Express.jpg, Glorious Express File:NYK Aries Leader in San Diego Harbor.jpg, Aries Leader File:Pegasus Leader 01.jpg, Pegasus Leader File:Pyxis Leader NYK Line - IMO 9284738 - Panama.jpg, Pyxis Leader File:Victory Leader in Curaçao.JPG, Victory Leader File:Car carrier Volans Leader.jpg, Volans Leader File:NYK Bulk Carrier (30675228534).jpg, Pacific Islander File:Chihiro p3 approaching Port of Rotterdam, Holland 15-Dec-2007.jpg, Chichiro File:Ocean Clarion p4 Port of Rotterdam 21March2009.jpg, Ocean Clarion File:Ocean Corona (ship, 2009) IMO 9410404, Mississippi haven Port of Rotterdam pic1.jpg, Ocean Corona File:Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha asuka.jpg, Asuka {{Authority control Transport companies based in Tokyo Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Nagoya Stock Exchange Mitsubishi companies Shipping companies of Japan Container shipping companies Empire of Japan Postwar Japan Transport companies established in 1885 Japanese companies established in 1885 Japanese brands Car carrier shipping companies Ro-ro shipping companies