Japan's merchant fleet stands at 2,021 vessels (around 67 million dwt) with 70 per cent of vessels being under ten years old. In 1997 the 12 oceangoing shipping companies listed on the Tokyo stock exchange increased operating profits by 31.4 per cent to Yenl22 billion ($1.1 billion). Then came the financial crisis in the Far East and the slowing of world trade. In April last year Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) merged with Showa Line to form a fleet of 545 vessels (200 directly owned). With the fleet coveting many different sectors it needed to get some idea of how the financial situation would unfold.
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