NYK President Koji Miyahara told the company in his 2008 New Year's message that his 740 ships must cut speed 10 per cent to save on fuel costs if the shipping line is to stay in the black.
"A 10 per cent slowdown of voyage speed will produce more than a 25 per cent saving of fuel oil," said Mr Miyahara, adding that fuel prices, rising from US$164 a ton five years ago to $500 today, have got to the point where the shipping line must adopt a new business model to stay profitable.
"If a single containership daily consumes 200 tons of fuel costing $500 per ton, its fuel cost will reach as high as $100,000 in just a day," he said.
"Efforts are also called for to improve business patterns, efforts such as reviewing the freight rate structure while obtaining customers' understanding," he said.
Lloyds List pointed to MOL president Akimitsu Ashida recent comments urging the same cost-cutting approach at his company. "Costs such as repair, labour and lubricants as well as skyrocketing bunker prices, are rising sharply. Do not accept higher costs, go a step further to reduce costs," Mr Ashida urged.