ONE was founded in 2016 as a joint venture between Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and K Line. It was formed as part of a larger process of consolidation that was occurring in the container shipping industry at that time, affected by poor profits and surplus capacity. It merged the container shipping divisions of the three companies, forming the sixth-largest container shipping company in the world at that time. NYK controls a 38% stake of the joint venture, while MOL and K Line own 31% each. The company began trading in April 2018, with a holding company office in Tokyo, global headquarters in Singapore and regional headquarters in London, Richmond, Hong Kong, and Sao Paulo, and further local offices in 90 countries, with corporate and sales activities already started in October 2017. In August 2018, ONE ordered more than 14,000 refrigerated containers. In December 2018, ONE and PSA International signed an agreement to form a joint venture at Pasir Panjang Terminal in Singapore to conduct container operations in the terminal, starting in the first half of 2019. ONE decided to paint all its new launched ships and container equipment in a recognisable and eye-catching magenta color. The magenta shade idea was inspired by the cherry blossoms common in Japan, where the three parent companies are located.
At establishment, the fleet counted 240 container vessels, including 31 container ships with a capacity of 20,000 TEU or higher. As a result of the merger, it also inherited container ship orders from its predecessors, with one ultra-large 20,000 TEU vessel and twelve 14,000 TEU vessels due to be delivered. A tonnage review was scheduled to happen within 18 months from the operations beginning, in order to be competitive on all services by using the most recent, technological and environment friendly ships available to be built.
Facts
On 2 April 2018, mv ONE Minato was launched from Imabari Shipbuilding as trial. The vessel has a capacity of 14,000 TEU, and has been painted in magenta. On 15 May 2018, the first magenta painted vessel delivered and added into the fleet, mv ONE Commitment, started her maiden voyage at Singapore and reached Yantian International Container Terminals in China. Sailing under Japanese flag, the vessel operates on THE Alliance PN2 service calling China, Japan, US and Canada with a total capacity of 8,560 TEU. On 12 June 2018, the newly built mv ONE Stork was delivered and launched from Hiroshima, Kure Shipyard in Japan. This vessel was originally intended as mv NYK Stork, as part of the 8 :de:NYK-Bird-Klasse|NYK-bird class sister ships, ordered and owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and chartered to ONE. The ship has a capacity of 14,000 TEUs and is magenta painted. The first deployment was instructed towards North America East Coast, after calling several loading ports in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. On 7 July 2018, mv ONE Competence made fast at the Port of Oakland. The vessel was built in 2008 as mv MOL Competence, to carry over 8000 TEUs. She has recently been repainted in magenta, following the intended plan to rebrand over 240 vessels in the fleet.
