Commenting on the Award, Hatsu Marine's Honorary Chairman, Maurice Storey, said :

Hatsu Marine's international and domestic trading strategies are based on a progressive approach combining vision, policy and expansion. From its headquarters in London, at the heart of Europe's shipping community, Hatsu Marine's vision is to provide profitable, high-quality global container shipping operations through the identification of new and emerging market opportunities capable of yielding increased profits for both the company and its customers and the development of cost-efficient business processes, such as online booking and cargo tracking capabilities.

The Queen's Award recognised Hatsu Marine's achievement of strong profit and growth through initiatives such as an efficient e-commerce environment, timely response to customer needs, accurate documentation, a reliable and far-reaching sailing schedule, efficient space control and quotation flexibility. Tactical collaboration with competitors via joint ventures, slot exchanges and / or slot chartering on specific trade lanes and services also maximises Hatsu's profit and widens its service offering.

Other profit driven initiatives include investment in new vessels and charter tonnage timed to support new service deployment or to replace smaller vessels with a view to increasing overall service capacity, as well as space acquisition via slot chartering agreements with competitors.

Hatsu Marine has been quick to comply with a broad range of safety requirements and quality initiatives, including:

Over the next three years, an additional 4 million TEU of capacity will enter the container shipping market, representing a 50% increase in the size of the global fleet. Approximately 1.3 million TEU of this will be delivered through the course of 2006 and 2007, which will present further challenges. Although it is too early to predict the balance of capacity to demand, Hatsu Marine will ensure that its fleet is at all times deployed on the most efficient routes in a bid to retain the competitive edge. This will require a focused and flexible approach to scheduling and service planning. At the same time, rather than looking for 100% load factors, which is the strategy used in a booming market, Hatsu will select high profit cargo wherever possible.

Social and environmental responsibilities

Although the Queen's Award recognises Hatsu's commercial success, the company is also required to demonstrate quality business operations in terms of social and environmental considerations. Since its inauguration in 2002, Hatsu Marine has been committed to promoting the UK shipping register.

Hatsu has also been an ardent supporter of the City of London , its people and their diverse range of skills through the support of events such as The Lord Mayor's Appeal, which it sponsored at a dinner held in the London Guildhall on Wednesday, 18 May, 2005 .

In environmental terms, Hatsu Marine's commitment to the responsible operation of quality ships and well-trained crews has earned it both ISO 9001 Quality Management System and ISO14001 Environmental Management System.

Moreover, Hatsu has met and, indeed, exceeded all national and international regulations regarding protection of the marine environment with the introduction of its new S-Class ships, which incorporate double-skinned hulls and fuel tanks located within the transverse bulkhead spaces, thus minimising the risk of oil pollution or fire as a result of grounding or collision. They also feature 'cold-ironing', or the ability to shut down all shipboard generators while in port and switch to shore-based electricity supplies.