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World Shipping DirectoryCompanies · Ships · Fleets

A public reference property of Baalvion

Open data · every figure carries its source

World Shipping DirectoryCompanies · Ships · Fleets

whaling

Institute of Cetacean Research

Headquarters: Tokyo
Founded: 1987
Employees: —

Official website

Photo: Customs and Border Protection Service, Commonwealth of Australia · CC BY-SA 3.0 au · file

Ships in this registry

Counted from individual vessel records · Wikidata

Reported fleet size

—

No published figure available

Container capacity

—

Not a ranked container line

Gross tonnage on record

10,354

Summed over 4 ships reporting tonnage

In brief

What Institute of Cetacean Research is

Full article ↗

The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR, 日本鯨類研究所, Nihon Geirui Kenkyūjo) is a Japanese research organization that claims to specialise in "biological and social sciences related to whales" but is widely believed to be a front for commercial whaling.
In the past, it killed several hundred whales per year in the name of its 'research', the validity and necessity of which has been called into question. Among its activities, the ICR also used to sell "whale research byproducts" commercially, which environmental groups denounced as commercial whaling in disguise, which is banned by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). In March 2014, the International Court of Justice formally ruled that the ICR's whaling program was not for scientific purposes, as claimed, and ordered Japan to immediately cease its operation.

Corporate profile

Identity and registration

Legal name: —
Industry: whaling
Legal form: general foundation
Country of registration: Japan
Headquarters: Tokyo
Formed in: —
Founded: 1987
Dissolved: —
Employees: —
Head office coordinates: 35.6894, 139.6917

Ships on record here: 4
Vessel types operated: 2
Flag states used: 1
Average vessel age: 30.3 years
Oldest vessel on record: 1987
Newest vessel on record: 2002
Largest vessel by tonnage: 8,145
Average tonnage: 2,589
Market share: —
Parent company: —
Alliance: —
Record source: wikidata
Last refreshed: 2026-09-05

Fleet on record

What this company sails

Composition of the 4 vessels this registry attributes to Institute of Cetacean Research. Bars are true proportions of that set, not of the company's full fleet.

By vessel type

Unclassified3

Fishing vessel1

By flag state

Japan4

By shipbuilder

Naikai Shipbuilding & Engineering, Setoda2

Hakata Zosen, Hakata1

Kanadevia Corporation1

Delivery history

10-year fleet record

Ships delivered in each of the last 10 years, counted from the recorded build year of vessels attributed to this company, with the running total of its fleet on record. No deliveries fall inside this window — this company’s vessels on record were all built earlier.

Year	Gross tonnage added	Fleet on record
2017	—	3
2018	—	3
2019	—	3
2020	—	3
2021	—	3
2022	—	3
2023	—	3
2024	—	3
2025	—	3
2026	—	3

Vessel records

Ships on record

4 vessels

Ship	IMO	Type	Flag	Built	Gross tonnage	Deadweight	Length	Builder
Nisshin Maru	8705292	Fishing vessel	Japan	1987	8,145	—	129.6 m	Kanadevia Corporation
Yūshin Maru No. 2	9278040	Unclassified	Japan	2002	747	—	69.6 m	Naikai Shipbuilding & Engineering, Setoda
Yūshin Maru No. 3	9414096	Unclassified	Japan	—	742	—	63.0 m	Naikai Shipbuilding & Engineering, Setoda
Yūshin Maru	9197181	Unclassified	Japan	1998	720	—	69.6 m	Hakata Zosen, Hakata

Ships in registry counts individual vessel records attributed to the company here. Reported fleet is the company’s published total. They measure different things and are shown separately on purpose.

In context

How Institute of Cetacean Research compares

Counts over companies and vessels actually held in this directory — not over the world fleet, which is larger. Nothing here is estimated.

With 4 vessels attributed to it here, Institute of Cetacean Research is the 213th largest of the 965 operators in this directory that hold at least one ship on record, against a median of 2 across that group. That is a count of individually identified hulls, not the company’s published fleet size — the two are different measurements and both are shown above where available.

Japan is the country of registration for 69 commercial operators in this directory, among which Institute of Cetacean Research ranks 8th by ships on record. Between them those companies hold 153 vessels here. 2 of them carry a published container-capacity ranking. See every operator registered in Japan.

Founded in 1987, Institute of Cetacean Research is 39 years old. This directory holds 106 operators founded within five years either side of that date, whose median fleet on record is 1 ships. The median founding year across all commercial operators here is 1966, and the oldest on record dates to 1514.