Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line)

Public (Tokyo Stock Exchange) · HQ Tokyo, Japan · 440 vessels

Primary segment: bulk + LNG + PCTC
Typical contract: 4-6 months
Crew pay tier: mid-high (within segment)
Website: https://www.kline.co.jp

Overview

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) is the third of Japan's three principal shipping companies. Headquartered in Tokyo. K Line operates around 440 vessels with strength in bulk, LNG, PCTC, and offshore segments (container business under ONE). The company is unaffiliated with Kawasaki Heavy Industries (the shipbuilder) despite the shared name — both descend from the Kawasaki Shipyard origin.

For seafarers

Contracts 4-6 months with mid-to-high pay tier. Japanese officer pipeline; Filipino, Indonesian, and Indian rating and junior-officer recruitment through long-standing Japanese-affiliated manning agencies.

Watch for

K Line's offshore and energy-services arm has been more active than at MOL and NYK; FPSO and offshore-support deployment is a regular career niche. Confirm the segment of your assignment.

Sources: operator websites + Wikipedia for fleet counts, segments, parent ownership. Pay tier is relative to other operators within the same segment, not across segments. Cross-reference with /companies (the manning + ship-manager directory) and /ships for vessel-specific detail.