Merchandise Made from Reused Nautical Charts Now Available
- Hold the World's Oceans in Your Hand! -

July 14, 2023

TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) today announced that it has released a new line of merchandise repurposing nautical charts that are no longer in use. Compared to maps used on land, nautical charts are "maps of the oceans" used by vessels for navigation. Nautical charts have been used for most of the long history of ocean navigation, but they have been digitized in recent years. So there is a continuing decrease in the need for paper charts, since international conventions require ocean-going vessels to carry electronic charts (Note 1). The new line of merchandise is made from thousands of paper charts that were actually used by MOL seafarers.

The shorelines, topography, contour lines, geographical names, and "sea lanes," or shipping routes, remain intact on the nautical charts, and every pieces are different.

The merchandise is also available at the gift shop for the special exhibition "The Ocean—The Origin of Life" (Note 2) at the National Museum of Nature and Science (Tokyo, Japan), which MOL is co-sponsoring and participating as an exhibitor. Please stop by and take a look!

MOL hopes that by picking up memo books, fans, and tumblers that conjure up images of blue oceans around the world, people will learn more about shipping and vessels, the starting point of the MOL Group's business.

(Note 1)
International maritime rules require chart to be kept onboard vessels in accordance with the SOLAS Convention (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1984), and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has decided that vessels engaged in international voyages must be equipped with Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) from 2012 onward.

(Note 2)
Please refer to July 13, 2023, press release: https://www.mol.co.jp/en/info/article/2023/0713.html
Special Exhibition "The Ocean-The Origin of Life" https://umiten2023.jp/english.html