TST Corporation

Japan is surrounded by sea and is known throughout the world as a maritime power. Over 99% of Japan's importing and exporting is done by sea and it is not an exaggeration to say that marine transport is essential to our daily lives. Therefore, many ships enter and leave ports all over Japan, day and night. Our work is to collect, analyze and communicate various items of information about the ships that enter and leave Japanese ports. The main aspects of this are providing ship movement information and a navigational support service.

First of all, providing information about the movement of ships. This includes merchant ships such as oil tankers and freight container ships, and information includes not only basic information such as name and destination, but also current location, schedule, and estimated time of arrival at the port. We keep track of this information in real time and meet the needs of our customers in various ways.
The period from when a ship heads for a port until it actually works cargo, contains many specialized processes, such as pilot, berthing, cargo work and cargo haulage. In order to perform this work smoothly and efficiently, keeping accurate track of a ship's location, navigational information and schedule, etc. is very important.

Our navigational support service refers to the operation of coastal stations called "port radio". We use tools called international VHF wireless telephones to communicate traffic congestion and the port reception status to ships entering and leaving a port, in order to ensure their safety. Further, for ships that are unused to entering a certain port, we give extra care to ensure safety by explaining the route and guiding them to the berthing location.
We are virtually the only company in Japan that is entrusted with this work from several port authorities. We have 23 offices throughout Japan and the vast amount of data that we collect daily is a rare source of information. The fact that we separate this data by purpose, add value to it through analysis, and provide it to our customers in their desired format, is one of our unique services.

Currently, our system collects data necessary to cover the majority of Japan's main ports. We are aiming to build a system that covers other ports in Japan, and collect high-quality data country-wide. From there, we want to make this highly profitable data widely available and expand our business.

September 2014
Shingo Kojima, CEO