On September 16 and 17, NYK held its annual Dry Bulk Safety Conference to share safety awareness and review trouble response for dry bulk vessels.

This conference has been held every year since 2010 to promote safety through the exchange of ideas and the sharing of information about recent incidents with shipowners and ship-management company personnel in charge of vessel management. In the wake of the grounding of Crimson Polaris off the coast of Hachinohe on August 11, the importance of safe operations was also emphasized with the participants.

This year's conference was held online over two days and was attended by 38 shipowners and ship-management companies from Japan and abroad. The main topic of the conference was an examination of case studies of past accidents to introduce NYK's safety measures and eradicate accidents. The conference also included group discussions on maneuvering and oil pollution accidents, scrubber-related issues, the Ballast Water Management System, and DryBMS* responses. Mr. Steen Brodsgaard Lund, CEO of RightShip Singapore Pte Ltd, was also invited to give a presentation.

On February 3, NYK released the NYK Group ESG Story,** which promotes efforts to create new value by contributing to the achievement of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and solving social issues through the group’s business activities. The annual Dry Bulk Safety Conference, which emphasizes safety awareness with partner companies and aims for continuous safe operation, is part of this. To strongly promote ESG management, the NYK Group will continue to stress safety to realize more prosperous lives for seafarers and encourage new value creation as a sustainable solution provider.

* A system of ship management standards and guidelines released in January 2021 to standardize safety and risk management in dry bulk ship management and to improve safety and security and environmental friendliness. This system is expected to be operational by the end of this year.
Website: https://drybms.org/

** NYK Group ESG Story
A guideline detailing concrete efforts to integrate ESG into management strategies of the NYK Group.
Details: https://www.nyk.com/english/esg/esg-story/