Oil Tankers

Transportation of crude oil by oil tankers is a lifeline for Japan because the country depends on imports for almost all of its oil energy needs.

The IINO Group's history with oil tankers began in 1929 when it completed the TAKATORI MARU No. 1, and following that in 1931, it completed construction of Japan's first oceangoing tanker, the FUJISAN MARU. We pioneered transportation of petroleum by oil tankers and we once had the largest fleet of oil tankers in Japan.

Although our fleet has been scaled back, it now primarily comprises VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers; tankers in the 300,000-DWT class) engaged in medium- to long-term time charter contracts, enabling us to fulfill our customers' needs and transport crude oil. Almost all of the vessels we operate are engaged in medium- to long-term time charter contracts, thereby contributing to the consistent transportation of crude oil.

Any single accident that results in the spillage of crude oil can wreak enormous damage on the ocean and surrounding environments. To prevent such tragedies, oil tankers are now required to be built with double hulls (double-layered outer hull to prevent cargo spillages in case the hull is damaged). The IINO Group moved swiftly to meet this requirement, and completed the double-hull conversion of its entire oil tanker fleet in 2002. Furthermore, we have also put measures in place in response to environmental regulations, including regulations for emissions of SOx (sulfur oxides) from marine vessels that will go into effect in January 2020.

The fifth-generation FUJISAN MARU, a VLCC to be completed in March 2020, is the first in IINO LINES to be equipped with a scrubber to comply with the new sulfur oxide (SOx) regulations that became effective in January 2020. Going forward, we will continue our efforts to reduce environmental impact, and SHOHO MARU was delivered in the end of September, 2020 and YOHO was delivered in January, 2021, both of which use the latest technology to improve propulsion performance and reduce fuel consumption. We will continue to renovate and expand our fleet of environmentally conscious VLCCs to comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

Safe operations and safe navigation require not only state-of-the-art technological innovations, but also a wealth of operational know-how and ship management expertise cultivated through a wealth of experience, which are not only passed on to customers but also to other ship types in the group.

We will continue to provide safe and consistent transportation of crude oil.