Three shipping and shipmanagement companies within the Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) empire —Asahi Shipping, Hachiuma Steamship and Mitsubishi Ore Transport – are to merge and integrate their business operations.

NYK Bulkship Partners will be the name of the new company come April 1 next year. 

The new entity will have 21 owned vessels as well as 90 under management and will be led by Koichi Uragami, who is currently the president of Mitsubishi Ore Transport. 

The folding of the brands sees some famous names in Japanese shipping disappear. Asahi Shipping, for instance, was founded in 1946, and was taken over by NYK in 2002. Hachiuma, meanwhile, has a history going all the way back to 1861. It was taken over by NYK in 1964.