Japanese big three shipping companies mull over donating large training ship to JMETS

July 21, 2025, by Naida Hakirevic Prevljak

Japanese ‘big three’ shipping companies Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), along with the Japanese Shipowners’ Association (JSA), have initiated discussions to donate a large training vessel to the Japan Agency of Maritime Education and Training for Seafarers (JMETS).

With this move, the parties recognize the “critical” importance of training and securing highly skilled Japanese seafarers to maintain and further develop maritime transport.

As identified in the report by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)’s study group on JMETS’s medium-term strategy, JMETS has been facing various challenges such as an unstable financial foundation, fewer actual on-board training days due to escalating fuel costs, shortages of instructors and crew, and the issue of accommodating students with varying proficiency levels and qualification goals on the same training vessel.

These factors make it challenging for JMETS to provide sufficient onboard training, and additionally, JMETS is also facing the issue of aging training vessels and school buildings.

Considering these circumstances affecting JMETS, the Japanese ocean-going shipping industry has decided to begin exploring the donation of a large-sized training vessel to actively support the steady progress of JMETS’s medium-term reforms based on MLIT’s study group report.

As informed, the first step will be to examine the concrete specifications for the training vessel and engage in discussions with shipyards, aiming for completion around 2030.

“We sincerely hope that JMETS’s reforms will progress steadily based on the MLIT study group’s report, and that our donation of this training ship will contribute to the healthy and stable development of training and securing highly skilled Japanese seafarers,” the companies highlighted.

Not only in Japan but also globally, hundreds of thousands of seafarers will need some type of training by 2050 to learn how to handle alternative fuels and green ships as they make the shift from high to low-carbon careers.

The decarbonization of the maritime industry does not only entail zero- and near-zero-emission ships and corresponding port infrastructure but also a people-centered transition.

The maritime sector’s transition to e-fuels could support up to four million new green jobs by 2050, double the number of seafarers serving globally, a study commissioned by the Global Maritime Forum (GMF) revealed last year.

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