MOL Holds Maritime Education Event at Oarai Ferry Terminal
- Pledging to Protect the Oarai Sea's Natural Abundance for the Next Generation -

December 11, 2023

TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President '& CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) today announced that MOL and Innoqua Inc. (Representative: Yota Takakura; Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo) held a marine education event at the Oarai Ferry Terminal in Ibaraki Prefecture from Friday, December 8 to Sunday, December 10.
At the opening ceremony held on Friday, MOL invited the Oarai Town Mayor Yutaka Kunii to make a declaration that MOL, Innoqua, and Oarai Town will protect the future of the Oarai Sea.

In addition, a marine education program was held on Saturday and Sunday, drawing about 220 participants, including 107 elementary school and junior high school students from Oarai and surrounding areas and MOL elementary and junior high school student ambassadors (Note 1), as well as their parents. The students learned about current issues facing the sea Oarai in a quiz format while viewing an aquarium that recreates the sea using Innoqua’s unique environmental transfer technology®. They assembled their own underwater drones for underwater research and practiced operating them, and enjoyed learning about the marine environment while feeling a close connection to the sea.

The event with drones, water tanks, and so on

Oarai Town, Ibaraki Prefecture, is a port of call for the Sunflower ferries of the MOL Group's ferry business and the cruise ship Nippon Maru. MOL also concluded a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the town (Note 2) in the group's foreign human resources consulting business, collaborating with the town as a new leader in addressing labor shortages.
This event was held in hopes of inspiring students and their parents in and around Oarai to learn about the importance of the sea through marine education. MOL will work with Oarai Town and Innoqua to make this program a sustainable initiative.
The company will continue to coexist and prosper with the town, contributing to the sustainable growth of local industry and promoting activities to protect the Oarai Sea.

(Note 1) Please refer to November 24, 2023, press release: MOL Holds Inauguration Ceremony for 2023 'MOL Student Ambassadors' and 'Presentation of Proposal for Creating the Ship of the Future' - Creating the Future with Tomorrow's Leaders -. Fourteen ambassadors are currently playing active roles in learning about the significance of protecting the richness of the sea and the appeal of the ocean shipping industry, and passing it down to their peers who will create the future.

(Note 2) Please refer to the August 26, 2022, press release: MOL Concludes MoU to Revitalize Regional Industries by Utilizing Overseas Personnel in Oarai-machi, Ibaraki Prefecture.

MOL Group 5 Sustainability Issues
MOL Group identifies "Sustainability Issues" (Materiality) as our key issues for sustainable growth with society through realization of the Group Vision.
We anticipate this initiative to contribute especially to the realization of "Environment -Conservation for Marine and global environment-" and "Human & Community -Contributing to the growth and development of people and communities-".