April 20, 2004

MOL Registers Wind Resistance-Reducing Car Carrier Design
Company plans to license environment-friendly technology.

TOKYO - Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Kunio Suzuki) today announced that the company has registered its new wind resistance-reducing design for pure car carriers (PCCs) with the Japanese Patent Office. The technology, applied to vessels since March 2003, was developed in cooperation with Universal Shipbuilding Corp.

Summary of Registration
Patent Office Registration No.1203639 (effective for 15 years from March 12, 2004)
Refer to the attached diagram. Main characteristics of the new design are as follows:
1. The vessel's bow is aerodynamically rounded and beveled along the bow line to help reduce pressure from headwinds.
2. The upper deck has cargo space (called the garage deck) to maximize load capacity. The vessel also has different levels, with square cut corner sections, all along the sides of the vessel at the top of the garage deck, which help reduce pressure from sidewinds.
3. The design effectively reduces leeway caused by wind pressure. As a result, the design improves both fuel efficiency, which in turn reduces emissions of CO2, NOx, and SOx in vessel engine exhaust, and speed.
4. More than a year of voyages by PCCs of the new design proved, as expected, that the design reduces leeway, improves speed, and results in an annual fuel efficiency improvement exceeding 5% over similar PCCs of conventional design.

Background
MOL, along with Universal Shipbuilding Corp., developed a new PCC design that reduces wind resistance and improves fuel efficiency. The company has launched six PCCs featuring this new design, starting with the Courageous Ace in March 2003.

The shape of conventional car carriers makes them very susceptible to wind pressure, which causes leeway, that is, sideways drift of a vessel.
The Courageous Ace's design, developed through joint research with Universal Shipbuilding Corp., reduces leeway and enhances fuel efficiency.

A patent has been pending on this new design. But considering it vital intellectual property, MOL decided to register it with the Patent Office.

MOL will also license the design to other companies to broaden its use and help reduce the environmental impact of PCC operation.



�£Oblique perspective drawing of registered design elements