Exhibiting at Sea Japan 2018, which starts on Wednesday in Tokyo, the company now has ability to supply Viking S30 extended service interval SOLAS liferafts in Japan and recently Japanese Government granted approval for Viking to supply liferafts to Japanese-flagged vessels and carry out final liferaft assembly in Japan. The company said this was the first such approval to a non-Japanese supplier.
“Viking has taken important steps to demonstrate commitment to the Japanese market, and with the first of the Japanese government approvals in place for our liferafts, we’re able to provide solutions that more closely match the relationships shipowners already have with local suppliers,” said Bjarne Kolbo Nielsen,Viking vice president of the Asian region.
Viking sees strong potential in the Japanese market, which with around 8,000 vessels under the Japanese flag could overtake the Greek market as the world’s largest shipowners.
“The Japanese business community is characterised by an extremely high level of internal loyalty, so it often takes years to earn sufficient trust to become part of their supply chain,” Nielsen commented.
Sea Japan 2018, organised by UBM, is being held at Tokyo Big Sight from 11 – 13 April.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
