Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line) and shipbuilding companies have reached agreements to build four next generation car carrier vessels.

Participating shipbuilders are Shin Kurushima Dockyard Co. Ltd and Japan Marine United Corporation, each company to build two vessels, respectively.

We have spent considerable length of time studying and investigating the most suitable next generation car carrier with shipyards. We have appointed two shipyards and are adopting state of the art design in terms of top notch fuel efficiency and flexibility on cargo handling that will be far better than our existing fleet, says Yoshiyuki Aoki, Executive Managing Officer, Car Carrier Sector. These vessels will be the widest beam ever built, around 37-38 meters with 7,500-unit capacity. Length of the vessel is kept at 200 meters, considering ability to call at any port.

37-38 meter beam has come as a result of a series of simulation tests, exploring both better stability of the vessel and better fuel efficiency at the same time. Thanks to full support from the Shipyard, we are confident that we will have success in optimizing those two factors. These new vessels will be equipped with CAUL to mitigate wind pressure for optimum fuel consumption. Another technical point being addressed with these new ships is cargo loading equipment inside of the cargo hold and loading ramp as well in order to be best suited for not only passenger cars but also other RORO cargoes.

These four ships will replace existing aged tonnage. It is our estimation that the car transport market and RORO cargo market will steadily grow, so we will continue to develop our fleet to deliver value added efficiency and capability of handling an even wider variety of cargo mix to assure our services successfully meet the needs of our valued customers, Aoki added.

Delivery of this quartet of new ships will take place in 2015 and the first quarter of 2016.