On August 23, Stellar Harmony, a dedicated wood-chip carrier, was delivered at the shipyard of Iwagi Zosen Co., Ltd., a member of the Imabari Shipbuilding Group. The vessel will transport environmentally and socially conscious wood chips mainly from New Zealand, Australia, North America, and South America under a long-term contract between NYK and Marusumi Paper Co., Ltd.

Stellar Harmony comes equipped with hybrid fins (energy-saving equipment installed on the rudder to improve propulsion efficiency) and an energy-saving governor (equipment that saves fuel and reduces the load during main engine operation), as well as an eco-friendly main engine with specifications that improve fuel efficiency during low-load operation.

The ship will also pump in seawater along its routes to collect microplastics floating in the ocean. The collected microplastics will be unloaded and analyzed by the Chiba Institute of Technology and used for research to clarify the actual distribution of microplastics in the ocean.*

Length overall: approx. 199.9 meters
Breadth: 32.24 meters
Deadweight tonnage: 49,506 metric tons
Cargo tank capacity: approx. 3,600,000 cubic feet
Builder: Iwagi Zosen Co., Ltd. (Imabari Shipbuilding Group)

On February 3, 2021, NYK released the “NYK Group ESG Story,” which aims to further integrate ESG into the company’s management strategy and promotes activities that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs through business activities. On March 24, 2022, NYK released the updated “NYK Group ESG Story 2022,” which introduces initiatives for integrating ESG into the Group’s management strategies set forth in the “NYK Group ESG Story” and provides a partial explanation of the Group’s sustainable growth strategy from a long-term perspective. In order to strongly promote ESG management, the NYK Group will encourage new value creation as a sustainable solution provider not only through the safe and secure operation of eco-ships but also through contributions to oceanographic research on microplastics.


<The 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/news/2021/esg-story_01.html

<The NYK Group ESG Story 2022>
Details: https://www.nyk.com/english/news/2022/20220324_01.html

* More than 8 million tons of plastic debris enters the ocean every year, and it is said that by 2050 the total weight of marine plastic debris will exceed the total weight of fish living in the ocean. Plastic in the ocean does not decompose permanently. Instead, plastics are broken down by ultraviolet rays and waves and become "microplastics," small particles of 5 mm or less in diameter. There is concern that these microplastics may be having a serious impact on the ecosystem. Since 2020, NYK has been a part of the world's first survey of the distribution of microplastics in the world's oceans. NYK is using vessels in operation to collect samples, and the Chiba Institute of Technology is compiling and analyzing the data. NYK will continue to cooperate in the collection and provision of microplastics along shipping routes to contribute to the clarification of the actual distribution of microplastics in the oceans.

Marusumi Paper Co., Ltd.
Headquarters: Ehime, Japan
President & CEO: Tomoyuki Hoshikawa
Website: https://www.marusumi.co.jp/en/