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
service, with a route from
Yokohama
to
Shanghai
; 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.
[6]
The merged company had a fleet of 58
steamships
and expanded its operations rapidly, first to other Asian ports and then worldwide, with a line service to
Seattle
established in 1896
[7]
and to
London
in 1899.
[6]
The company's
Katori Maru
was used by
Chinese Muslims
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.
[8]
The majority of Japanese merchant ships, tankers, and liners sailed under the NYK banner in this period. Regular services linked
Kobe
and
Yokohama
with South America,
Batavia
,
Melbourne
, and
Cape Town
, with frequent crossings to
San Francisco
and
Seattle
. Other routes connected local Chinese
cabotage
vessels on the Chinese coasts and upper
Yangtze River
.
Ocean routes went east from Japan to
Vancouver
(Canada) or Seattle. Another way was to stop in
Hawaii
, which continued to San Francisco and the
Panama Canal
. The next commercial routes were south from Japan, across the
East China Sea
. These went to Southeast Asia, the China coasts, and towards India and the Indian Ocean, to Europe or Batavia (
Dutch Indies
), or
Australia
and
New Zealand
. 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
timber represented a third part of local trade.
Soybean
products from
Dairen
and
Ryojun
arrived at Yokohama. The
sugarcane
of the
South Seas Mandate
and
Formosa
, cotton, salt, and minerals represented other important parts of these transport transactions. In 1926, Toyo Kisen Line (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
,
Karafuto
,
Kwantung
,
Formosa
and
South Mandate
) of the Empire.
From 1924, all new cargo ships for NYK were
motor ships
.
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 ships
for the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. Many vessels were sunk by the
Allied
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.
[11]
Before the war, NYK had 36 passenger ships;
by the time of
Japan's surrender
only one, the motor ship
Hikawa Maru
, survived.
[12]
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
requisitioned
Hikawa Maru
as a transport ship to repatriate Japanese soldiers and civilians from territories that had been liberated from Japanese occupation.
[12]
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.
[13]
Amongst the many ships in the early NYK fleet, some names comprise serial categories.
[14]
Some ships were named after
Shinto
shrines, and others were named after ancient
provinces of Japan
,
cities of Japan
,
mountains of Japan
or
islands of Japan
. Some ships had explicitly non-Japanese names, such as ships named after cities.
Fleet in post-war era
edit
The modern NYK tonnage encompasses a variety of ship names.
[14]
Some names form series, as in those ships named after
flowers
,
stars
,
star constellations
, and
provinces
of pre-
Meiji
Japan.
Flowers
ACX Cherry
(1994)
[55]
ACX Hibiscus
(1997)
[55]
ACX Jasmine
(1996)
[55]
ACX Lily
(1990)
[55]
ACX Magnolia
(1998)
[55]
ACX Marguerite
(1997)
[55]
ACX Salvia
(1997)
[55]
Plumeria Leader
(2022)
|
Stars
Altair Leader
(2011)
[55]
NYK Altair
(2010)
[55]
NYK Canopus
(1998)
[55]
NYK Deneb
(2007)
[55]
NYK Rigel
(2009)
[55]
NYK Sirius
(1998)
[55]
NYK Vega
(2006)
[55]
Rigel Leader
(2011)
[55]
|
Constellations
Andromeda Leader
(2007)
[55]
Aphrodite Leader
(2007)
[55]
Apollon Leader
(2007)
[55]
Aries Leader
(2014)
[56]
Auriga Leader
(2008)
[57]
Cepheus Leader
(2006)
[55]
Cetus Leader
(2005)
[55]
Equuleus Leader
(2005)
[55]
NYK Antares
(1997)
[55]
NYK Leo
(2002)
[55]
NYK Orion
(2008)
[55]
NYK Pegasus
(2003)
[55]
NYK Phoenix
(2003)
[55]
NYK Virgo
(2007)
[55]
Volans Leader
(2003)
[55]
|
Provinces
Iga Maru
(1996)
[55]
Izu Maru
(1997)
[55]
Izumo Maru
(1997)
[55]
Kaga Maru
(1988)
[55]
Sanuki Maru
(1997)
[55]
Settsu Maru
(1997)
[55]
Shima Maru
(1997)
[55]
|
Miscellaneous
Asama Maru
(1954)
[58]
Astoria Maru
(1952)
[59]
Galaxy Leader
(2002)
[60]
[61]
Hakone Maru
(1968)
[62]
Hikawa Maru
(1974)
[63]
Zeus Leader
(2009)
[55]
|
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
container ship
Hakone Maru
on a route to
California
in 1968 and soon establishing container ship routes to many other ports. NYK became a partner in
Nippon Cargo Airlines
in 1978, and in 1985, added
United States
container train service in cooperation with
Southern Pacific
.
NYK revived its passenger ship business in 1989 with
cruise ships
operated by its newly formed subsidiary
Crystal Cruises
.
In 1990 NYK resumed passenger services under its own name when
MS?
Asuka
entered service on the Japanese cruise market.
[64]
[65]
In 2006
Asuka
was replaced by the much larger
Asuka II
, formerly Crystal Cruises'
Crystal Harmony
.
[66]
[67]
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 Sao 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
. The first delivered ship of the ten units to be built within end of 2018, was
mv NYK Blue Jay
launched in 2016.
[68]
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
.
[69]
On 19 November 2023, the NYK operated vessel
Galaxy Leader
, while sailing in Red Sea en route to India, was hijacked by the Iranian backed
Houthi
on the grounds it was an Israeli owned vessel. In May 2024 the owners asked the Houthis to release the crew.
[70]