The shipping company that puts its people first
“K” Line Energy Shipping (UK) Ltd started as a pure LNG shipping company with a fleet of around 8 vessels. It has since moved to the frontier of CO2 shipping and manages three of the four vessels currently operating in Northern Lights, the pioneering CCS project.
Across two rounds of work we have been trusted with a wide range of creative work to tell the story of this unique shipping company, and we remain truly grateful for their trust and for everything we have learned while working with them.
We have worked with other shipping companies, and we know the vocabulary well: “ship and shore relations”, “onboard safety culture”, “Check twice, ship securely” etc.
However, we had never seen the intent and meaning of these phrases turned into such focus and daily action as they are in “K” Line.
Through its safety culture program, titled “K”ARE, which is developed with support from our good friends at Sayfr, “K” Line has defined eight core leadership behaviors that are analyzed, discussed and practiced every single day.
Not only by crew onboard, but ashore as well. From mess boy to captain, from logistics to senior management.
These behaviors are not simple slogans, headlines in safety pamphlets or the agenda for an annual workshop. On the contrary, these 8 behaviors represent hard daily work, rooted in psychology, empathy, understanding of human nature and, above all, a relentless willingness to improve.
Mr. Yuzuru Goto, who was Managing Director of “K” Line when our relationship began, put it to us like this: “Failure is fine, as long as it is used as an opportunity to learn.”
This philosophy and the emphasis on trusting and supporting the people around you made our first project a joy: An eight-day voyage onboard the LNG-carrier Arctic Discoverer, followed by interviews ashore in central London. We made friends onboard who we still connect with and were met with exceptional support.
We made two films: a short documentary about safety culture and the “K”ARE program, and a corporate film. We also delivered photographs and the design, content and copy for a new company website.
Then the world changed.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, keeping “K”ARE running the way it had been became difficult. Distance, and meeting on screens instead of in person, eroded some of what the program had achieved.
Once the pandemic was over, rather than letting it go, “K” Line rebooted “K”ARE with full force, and “K” Line got in touch with the Mount Visual team for a second comprehensive creative endeavor.
Again, we were invited on board an LNG carrier and to London, and again we made two new films as direct follow-ups to the first ones, in which the people at “K” Line talk openly about what has changed, what was hard, and what it takes to bring the program back to where it was, and much, much more.
Our approach to this work has been the same every time: We treat the story, the people and the subject the way a documentary filmmaker would, with curiosity and with honesty. Nobody that sits down to talk to us on camera has access to any of our questions or talking points in advance.
Each person simply shares their thoughts.
The result, in our view, beats any scripted production you can imagine.
