2024/04/04 MOL President & CEO Hashimoto Addresses Company's Entrance Ceremony - Company Embarks on a New Era, Underscoring Importance of 'Human Capital'

April 04, 2024

TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) today announced that on April 1, it welcomed 91 new employees (new graduates at sea: 13; new graduates on land: 43; career recruits on land: 35). President & CEO Hashimoto delivered the following message at the entrance ceremony on April 1.

"Congratulations on your joining our company. Over the past few years, the world has faced many challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the armed conflict between Israel and Palestine. These events have caused a great deal of turmoil in the global economy. However, in terms of the creation of new shipping demand resulting from these events, it was not necessarily all bad for a market-oriented shipping industry like ours. We have been able to keep advancing at a steady pace in terms of business performance, partly as a result of logistics moving in a way that could not have happened in the past.

In the traditional shipping industry, boom and bust periods are bound to occur due to market conditions. In this context, we are simultaneously nurturing business sectors such as real property, offshore, and LNG carrier services supported by long-term contracts, which are not subject to the vagaries of market conditions, to transform our portfolio into one that can generate stable earnings without being greatly affected by market fluctuations.

In addition, the group management plan "BLUE ACTION 2035," which was launched last fiscal year, got off to a good start. We will continue to accelerate our momentum in the second fiscal year and beyond. We plan to continue to build a new business foundation by expanding our operations around the world, including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. The most important element in this process is human capital.

I hope that each of you will fully develop your own potential and lead our group's business to success together, thereby building a mutually beneficial relationship between the company and you as individuals. Along with like-minded individuals, I would like to continue to raise the company's profile to the point where it can be considered a superior corporate group not only in Japan but also in the world. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors."