Ocean Network Express Holdings, Ltd., branded as ONE, is a Japanese

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

transportation and

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

company jointly owned by the Japanese shipping Lines

Nippon Yusen Kaisha The , also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a fleet of over 820 ships, which includes container ships, tankers, bulk and woodchip carriers, roll-on/ro ...

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (; abbreviated MOL) is a Japanese transport company headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest shipping companies in the world. Founded as a key part of the Mitsui ''zaibatsu'' (family-owned ...

, and

K Line is a Japanese transportation company. It owns a fleet that includes dry cargo ships (bulk carriers), container ships, liquefied natural gas carriers, Ro-Ro ships, tankers, and container terminals. It used to be the fourteenth largest contai ...

. Launched in 2017 as a joint venture, ONE inherited the container shipping operations of its parent companies, corresponding to a combined fleet capacity of about 1.4 million TEU.

History

ONE was founded in 2016 as a joint venture between

(NYK),

(MOL), and

. The company 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. After starting corporate and sales activities in October 2017, the company began trading in April 2018, with headquarters in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, business operation headquarters in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and regional headquarters in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and local offices in 90 countries. On 2 April 2018, ''ONE Minato'' (ordered by

, and originally named ''Minato Bridge'') was launched from

Imabari Shipbuilding is a major Japanese ship building, marine engineering, and service company headquartered in Imabari, Ehime, Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It is Japan's largest shipbuilder both in terms of tonnage and sales revenue, with design, researc ...

as trial. The vessel has a capacity of 14,000 TEU, and has been re-painted in magenta. On 15 May 2018, the first magenta painted vessel was delivered and added into the fleet. ''ONE Commitment'' (formerly known as ''MOL Commitment'', built in 2013), started her maiden voyage at

and reached Yantian International Container Terminals in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Sailing under

Japanese flag The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner with a red circle at its center. The flag is officially called the but is more commonly known in Japan as the . It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising Sun. The ...

, the vessel operates on THE Alliance PN2 service calling

, US and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

with a total capacity of 8,560 TEU. On 12 June 2018, the newly built ''ONE Stork'' was delivered and launched from

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

, Kure Shipyard in

. This vessel was originally intended as ''NYK Stork'', as part of the 8 Bird-class container ship 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

and

. On 7 July 2018, ''ONE Competence'' made fast at the

Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is the port authority for the city of Oakland, California, United States. Its primary responsibilities are the operation of the Oakland Seaport and the Oakland International Airport. It also operates a commercial real est ...

. The vessel was built in 2008 as ''MOL Competence'', to carry over 8000 TEUs. She has recently been repainted in

magenta Magenta () is a purple-red color. On color wheels of the RGB color model, RGB (additive) and subtractive color, CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between blue and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in colo ...

, following the intended plan to rebrand over 240 vessels in the fleet. In August 2018, ONE ordered more than 14,000 refrigerated containers. In December 2018, ONE and

PSA International PSA International Pte. Ltd., formerly the Port of Singapore Authority, is a global port operator and supply chain company. One of the largest port operators in the world, PSA's portfolio comprises over 70 deepsea, rail, and inland terminals. The ...

signed an agreement to form a joint venture at

Pasir Panjang Pasir Panjang is an area located at the southern part of Queenstown, Singapore, Queenstown in Singapore. Kent Ridge Park is a topographical feature which runs adjacent to Pasir Panjang. History Pasir Panjang Road, which once hugged the coa ...

Terminal in

to conduct container operations in the terminal, starting in the first half of 2019. On 30 November 2020, the

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

''ONE Apus'' lost an estimated 1816

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

overboard during severe weather while traveling from

Yantian Yantian District () is one of the nine districts of the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It is adjacent to Shenzhen River and Hong Kong to the south, and is surrounded by Luohu, Longgang District, Shenzhen, Longgang and Pingshan District, Shen ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. Among these were 64 containers of

dangerous goods Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabically abbreviate ...

. Removing collapsed containers from the deck took 3 months after the ship docked in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

. On 14 April 2021, ONE is added to ISO9001 certification registry of ClassNK. On 19 April 2021, ONE has announced the formation of a new Green Strategy Department, that will be involved in environmental sustainability projects, such as the successful trial of bio-fuel to power the ''MOL Experience'' container ship. On 4 February 2025, it has been announced a collaboration with LX Pantos for the American market.

Color scheme

ONE decided to paint all its newly launched ships and containers in a recognizable and eye-catching

shade (refrigerated containers have the opposite coloring: white with magenta lettering). The magenta colour scheme was inspired by the

cherry blossom The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

trees, one of the

national symbols of Japan National symbols of Japan are the symbols that are used in Japan to represent what is unique about the nation, reflecting different aspects of its cultural life and history. Symbols of Japan References External links Japan symbols and flag a ...

, where the mother companies are located. Other owned ships will also be painted magenta.

THE Alliance - Premier Alliance

Along with

Hapag-Lloyd Hapag-Lloyd AG is a German international shipping and container transportation company, the 5th biggest in the world. It was formed in 1970 through a merger of Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG) and Norddeutscher Lloyd. History The company was forme ...

, HMM Co. Ltd., and

Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation () is a Taiwanese container shipping company based in Keelung, Taiwan. History The company was founded in 1972 as a shipping line, but has historical links through its merger with the China Merchants Steam N ...

, ONE has been a member of THE Alliance. THE Alliance was a group of container shipping companies intended to provide 34 shipping services, directly calling at 81 different ports around the world on a monthly basis. From March 2025, THE Alliance was replaced by Premier Alliance, composed by the same members, excluding

Fleet

At establishment, the fleet counted 240 container vessels, including 31

container ships A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

with a capacity of around 14,000 TEU or higher, of which 6 have 20,000 TEU capacity. 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 (the Millau Bridge-class container ships). 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 efficient

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

s available to be built.

References

External links