Mitsui O.S.K.Lines: MOL President & CEO Hashimoto Addresses Company’s Entrance Ceremony

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) on April 1 welcomed 81 new employees (new graduates at sea: 17; new graduates on land: 24; career recruits on land: 40 (including regular employees promoted from contract employees)). President & CEO Hashimoto delivered the following message at the entrance ceremony on the same day.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19 among both new and current employees, strict precautions were taken to ensure safe social distancing.

“Everyone, congratulations on joining the company. I’m looking forward to working with you from now on.

“MOL has nearly 140 years of history, but in recent years we have started making substantial changes in our business categories. Going back to around the1980s, in response to post-war reconstruction demand and economic growth, the company played a key role in connecting worldwide transportation networks, centering on Japan. Since the 1990s, the company expanded its businesses that support international ocean shipping, mainly from new bases as Japanese manufacturers shifted their production overseas. In the last 10-15 years, Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Northern European countries have enhanced their competitiveness in global markets. It has become increasingly important for MOL to offer services to customers all over the world.

“At the same time, we now have a wide variety of competitors—not only Japanese, European and U.S. ocean shipping companies, but also Chinese, Singaporean, and Southeast Asian companies. We need to differentiate ourselves from other companies, in terms of technological capabilities as well as cost competitiveness, to achieve growth in this global environment. We are setting a course to conduct various social infrastructure businesses including offshore, real estate, and environment-related activities, while continuing to focus on our conventional ocean freight business.

“‘People’ are key to our competitiveness in internationally growing markets. We will challenge competitors around the world with a strong, multi-talented team that transcends gender, nationality, and age to develop a ‘chemical reaction,’ with diversity and inclusion in mind.

“Various challenges await you. I hope you will hone your international business skills and grow professionally while placing yourself in an exciting environment and working with various people. Let’s all do our best as members of MOL.”