New President to Take the Helm of MOL

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has announced the appointment of a new chairman and president.

The current President and Representative Director Koichi Muto will assume the position of Representative Director and Chairman, and current Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer Junichiro Ikeda will become president, MOL said.

The appointments are subject to approval by the Board of Directors meeting following the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, scheduled to be held on June 23, 2015.

The company also announced plans to launch a biannual safety campaign on April 1, targeting all MOL group-operated vessels.

As part of these efforts, MOL President, executives, and other personnel plan to pay an extensive series of visits to MOL-operated vessels in Japan and overseas. During the visits, they will meet with seafarers who are responsible for safe operation on the front lines and exchange information and opinions about ways to prevent safety-related incidents.

MOL said that proposals and ideas gained through this campaign will be shared throughout the MOL Group and among group-operated vessels to further enhance the group’s safe-operation structure.