Japan’s shipping major Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), who last year won the prestigious Heyerdahl Award for environmental excellence, donates USD400,000 to environmental research.
Last year the Award Committee of the prestigious Heyerdahl International Maritime Environmental Award selected NYK as the 2005 award recipient for its impressive efforts and commitment to improve the company’s environmental performance. The award consists of a USD 100,000 prize and a statue honouring the spirit of Thor Heyerdahl.
This year, NYK has established a fund of five times the amount, USD 400,000, to support Japanese research and development in their quest to improve the maritime environment. At a ceremony in February, six Japanese research facilities were honoured. With this funding, they will the coming year focus on activities such as research into marine environmental protection and human-resources development. These research projects are also fully in line with the objectives of the Heyerdahl Award and in the spirit of the late Thor Heyerdahl.
“With regards to both IMO’s objective of ‘Safer Seas and Cleaner Oceans’ and DNV’s objective ‘Safeguarding life, property and the environment’, we applaud NYK’s initiative and congratulate the research facilities who won the project funding. NYK has through its behaviour – not just words – shown an understanding of the vulnerability of the oceans and taken steps to save this fragile environment from destruction,” says Terje Staalstrøm, DNV’s Senior Vice President and chairman of the Expert Committee of the Thor Heyerdahl award, responsible for nominating the chosen candidates to the international Award Committee.
In his speech for the funding ceremony in Japan, Trond Hodne, DNV’s Regional Manager for Maritime Japan, on behalf of the Thor Heyerdahl Award, stated: “We have to recognise that we live on a ‘blue planet’ and are all dependent on the oceans both as a means of commercial transport and as a source of natural resources – food and energy. Thus we must respect the oceans and ensure that all economic activity linked to the sea is of a sustainable nature. Hence, we cannot exploit and pollute the oceans as if there was no tomorrow. Protecting the oceans against mankind’s deliberate and involuntary pollution is part of our social responsibility.”
The Heyerdahl Award
The Heyerdahl Award honours the spirit of the Norwegian explorer Dr Thor Heyerdahl and is meant to inspire the world maritime community to innovative actions to protect the environment. The famous explorer and the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association launched The Heyerdahl Award in June 1999. The award is sponsored by Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, the marine insurance companies Gard and Skuld, and DNV.
Svein Inge Leirgulen
Date: 2006-03-13