October 17, 2002

MOL Moves to Strengthen Corporate Governance
- Establishment of Internal Audit Office -

TOKYO - Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Kunio Suzuki) today announced the establishment of an Internal Audit Office - effective October 1 - to create a more efficient and practical auditing structure. The move is aimed at enhancing MOL's efforts to strengthen its corporate governance.

MOL established compliance regulations in November 2001, and since then has proceeded to reorganize the compliance structure of the entire MOL Group.

Based on the MOL Group Corporate Principles, MOL set regulations related to basic policies, behavioral standards, an organization to promote compliance, and measures to address inappropriate behavior. These moves were aimed at improving the morale of MOL personnel and strengthening MOL's risk management activities.

At the same time, MOL established the Compliance Committee as to oversee compliance and remedy violations. The committee is chaired by the MOL vice president responsible for administrative divisions, and includes directors assigned by the Executive Committee .

Since 1964, the Internal Auditor has been responsible for ensuring compliance with internal regulations. The company has integrated these functions into the Internal Audit Office as of October 1. To strengthen groupwide corporate governance, the Internal Audit Office aims to strengthen the overall auditing structure by gathering and integrating information from audits done by each division. The Office also handles network auditing, liaising with corporate auditors and certified public accountants concerning their legal auditing.