Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Japan Airlines Jointly Develop Approval Acquisition Process for Commercialization of Next-Generation Mobility "Flying Ship" "Sea-glider"

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (President: Kenta Matsuzaka, Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter "MOL") has signed a Memorandum of Agreement for a joint development project (hereinafter the "Project") with Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "JAL"), Lloyd's Register (hereinafter "LR"), and REGENT Craft Inc. (hereinafter "REGENT"). The Project aims to establish the hull certification and operation permit acquisition process for the "Sea-glider," a fully electric "flying ship" developed by REGENT, with a view to its social implementation in Japan.
This initiative with a classification society for the social implementation of the Sea-glider is the first case in Japan (*).
REGENT's "Sea-glider"
The Sea-glider is a fully electric next-generation mobility that fuses the characteristics of ships and aircraft. It is a "wing-in-ground-effect vehicle" (WIG craft) that flies at an altitude of a few meters above the sea surface by utilizing the ground effect (Note 1). It simultaneously achieves a maximum speed of 290 km/h, high energy efficiency, and zero-emission operation, and is being developed as an innovative and sustainable social infrastructure for passenger and cargo transport between coastal cities and on remote island routes.
Establishing safety and reliability is essential for the social implementation of the Sea-glider. In addition to investing in REGENT (Note 2), MOL and JAL aim to develop a new market for passenger and cargo transport by combining their accumulated knowledge of safe operations with REGENT's technological capabilities.
In this Project, the classification society LR will provide advisory services on technology, safety, and regulations, while MOL and JAL will work in cooperation with REGENT to systematically establish the approval acquisition process.
MOL will strengthen cooperation with relevant government ministries and agencies through this Project and promote initiatives toward the commercialization of the Sea-glider in Japan around 2030.
(*) According to MOL's research.
(Note 1) The phenomenon where the lift received by a wing increases when it is near the ground or water surface.
(Note 2) For investment in REGENT by MOL Switch LLC (hereinafter "MOL Switch"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MOL aimed at investing in decarbonization technologies, please refer to the MOL Switch press release dated June 25, 2024, "MOL Switch announces the investment in Regent Craft." For investment in REGENT by JAL, please refer to the JAL press release dated October 6, 2023, "JAL and Regent Craft Commence Partnership for Social Implementation of Electric Sea-glider."