On April 1, NYK welcomed 73 recruits at a ceremony held at the company’s Tokyo head office. Below is a translation of the address given by NYK president Takaya Soga.

President’s Speech
Good morning, everyone. I am NYK president Takaya Soga. Today, 72 new graduates (43 land-based employees and 29 seafarers) and one mid-career hire joined us and became our new colleagues. On behalf of the 35,000 people in the NYK Group, 46,000 including the foreign seafarers crewing our vessels, I would like to warmly welcome you all. Congratulations on joining the company.

Today, as you take your first steps as a member of the NYK Group, I would like to share a few words with you as a senior company member.

NYK was founded in 1885, and we are celebrating our 140th anniversary this year. Our long voyage has not been smooth sailing, and we have faced many difficulties. One of the significant hardships was World War II. In this war, we lost the precious lives of 5,312 employees, mainly seafarers, and 172 ships having a total tonnage of 1.02 million tons. Furthermore, after the war, we were forced to start again in a challenging environment where we could not receive any war compensation. There is no end to the list of challenges that the company has faced, including the rapid appreciation of the yen following the Plaza Accord in 1985, the Lehman Shock in 2008, the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the earthquake and subsequent torrential rain on the Noto Peninsula, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and the attacks on international merchant ships off the coast of Yemen.

Nevertheless, the NYK Group continues to exist and thrive today because it has always responded to the needs of society at the time. In the Meiji era, we pioneered overseas routes to improve Japan's international standing and modernize the country. After the war, we supported Japan's recovery and high-speed economic growth from a trade perspective. Even recently, during the confusion caused by COVID-19 infections and international affairs, we protected lifelines by delivering energy, medical supplies, and daily necessities to countries worldwide under the slogan "We will not stop the flow of goods." This is our group's raison d'être and social mission, which upholds the corporate philosophy of "Bringing value to life." This will not change in the future. Even in today's highly uncertain social and business environments, where what was once common sense is no longer common sense, let us keep this sense of purpose firmly in mind and tackle things with flexibility and resilience.

Nowadays, progress is being made in environmental measures to control abnormal weather and climate change. Greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by international shipping account for 2% of the world's total, equivalent to the amount emitted by Germany alone. For our company, reducing GHG emissions is a critical issue that we are tackling as a whole. D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) is also an important concept for creating new value in countries with declining birth rates. The Trump administration in the United States is implementing measures that seem to be putting the brakes on these. Still, I firmly believe that decarbonization and the promotion of D&I are important measures for maintaining and improving the corporate value of the NYK Group in the long term. I want to continue to move forward with them without wavering.

In "NYK Group ESG Story 2023" and the "NYK Group Decarbonization Story" announced in November 2023, we set ambitious targets for 2030 and explain in detail how we will achieve them. Along with the medium-term management plan announced in March 2023 and TNFD Report 2024, which was released in February of this year and outlines the risks and opportunities of natural capital, I hope that you will all take the time to read through the content and understand it as something that concerns you personally.

Finally, I hope that you will never forget to be grateful to the people who have supported and nurtured you up to now and that you will work with enthusiasm and vigor.

To all of you who joined us this year, the 140th year of our founding, let's work hard together from this moment onward.


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