On January 22, product-design students at Tama Art University (TAU) made their final presentation in a project aimed at improving the quality of seafarers' onboard work/life by developing new seafarer uniforms that incorporate the conceptual and design skills of students at TAU.


The "KRAFT & LOOP: Seafarers' Uniform Development Project" is a one-year joint industry-academia collaboration* that began in April 2023 between NYK and the university. An additional aim of the project is to spread and promote the concept of recycling for a recycling-oriented society ( Design for Disposal** ). The company has participated in recurrent dialogue with the students, studied design proposals, and assisted with the development of prototypes that would enhance seafarers' well-being. This project included classes at TAU conducted by NYK and visits to car carriers to raise mutual awareness within the NYK Group and at the university.


In the final presentation, new designs were proposed from the perspective of "attachment to things and durability ingenuity" and emphasized the design of seafarer uniforms that would be worn daily, applications that would promote communication among seafarers and enrich life on board, and a recycling system for uniforms that could be adapted to a recycling society.

The uniforms conceived in the joint research will be further developed in the future through seafarer feedback.

This collaboration will continue in the coming year, and research will be carried out to create mechanisms and lifestyles that support industry through the creative power of design, without being bound by precedent for implementation.

* Announcement on March 31, 2023, NYK to Launch Industry-Academia Collaboration with Tama Art University

** Design for Disposal (Japanese)