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Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (K Line) outlined in its latest annual report, released on Wednesday, that it saw a dip in marine fuel consumption during fiscal 2016, which runs up until March 31, compared to the previous year.

Between April 2016 and March 2017, K Line's vessels received 3,872,000 tonnes of fuel, which was a fall of 70,000 tonnes, or 1.8 percent, compared to the 2015 figure of 3,942,000 tonnes.

Earlier this year, in April, K Line revealed that its 12-month average fuel price during fiscal 2016 fell by $30, or 10.2 percent, to $265 per tonne.

By multiplying the amount of bunkers consumed by the average price, the total amount spent in fiscal 2016 comes to $1,026 million.

The previous year's fuel spend - calculated by multiplying 3,942,000 tonnes by $295 per tonne - amounts to $1,163 million, and indicates that K Line's annual bunker expenses declined by $136.81 million, or 11.8 percent.

The annual report also shows that, since 2007, K Line's bunker consumption has fallen by 678,000 metric tonnes, or 14.9 percent.

Environment

Developed in 2004, the shipping line's 'K Line Vision 2008' was targeted towards providing "sustainable growth and establishment of a stable profitability structure". Meanwhile, the 'K Line Environmental Vision 2050', formulated in March 2015, is a set of long-term guidelines that identify issues to be addressed by the group between now and 2050.

According to the company's latest report, SOX emissions from its vessels between 2007 and 2016 have fallen from 255,000 tonnes to 183,000 tonnes; NOX emissions are said to have dropped from 405,000 tonnes to 274,000 tonnes; and CO2 emissions from 14.150 million tonnes to 12.079 million tonnes - ahead of its CO2 reduction targets.

"ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) plays an important role in our efforts to fulfil our social responsibilities, to make us sustainable and improve corporate value, and for this reason we have positioned ESG as one of the priority initiatives under our new medium-term management plan," the company said in its latest annual report.

Losses

K Line's president and CEO, Eizo Murakami, was also keen to stress in the report that the company will be able to return to profitability following the losses recorded last year, and took the opportunity to apologize to shareholders for not paying out dividends.

"We posted major losses in fiscal 2016 and caused great concern among shareholders, and we sincerely apologize for our decision not to pay cash dividends for the year. In addition to structural reforms and other measures taken so far, we will achieve a steadfast return to profitability under our new medium-term management plan as we target a 'revival for greater strides' towards our next century of operations," Murakami said.

Projects

As reported earlier this month, K Line and Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line Kinkai) have agreed to work on a joint study to develop an LNG-fuelled passenger ferry for K Line Kinkai.

Also, K Line, together with Japan's two other leading shippers, Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), recently agreed to hold a working group to conduct a feasibility study on LNG bunkering for car carriers operating between Japan and Singapore.