Weathernews Inc. (Chiba, Japan; CEO: Chihito Kusabiraki) is proud to announce the establishment of our new subsidiary in Russia, WEATHERNEWS RUS LLC. Until now, our company has been supporting the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through safer and more cost effective voyages across the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Russia is strategically critical in these customer markets, so we have decided to open a local subsidiary in Moscow. This autumn, Weathernews plans to launch our ultra-compact satellite, WNISAT-1R that will monitor Arctic ice conditions along the NSR in order to provide more accurate information to customers. Also, the new subsidiary is going to develop service in new markets like aviation, in addition to the shipping industry.

Local Subsidiary in Russia Established to Support NSR Voyages and Develop New Markets
〜Fifty People Attend Opening Ceremony〜

About fifty people attended the opening ceremony for WEATHERNEWS RUS LLC. held in Moscow on Wednesday, July 6^th. Weathernews CEO Chihito Kusabiraki kicked off the ceremony, commenting, “Weathernews has been developing our Polar Routing Service in order to ensure safe and economical passage for vessels transiting the NSR, and we have supported thirty-three voyage over the past five years. However we think we can provide our customers with even more accuracy, and in real-time as they demand. The establishment of a subsidiary here in Moscow, and then the launch of WNISAT-1R this fall to monitor the Northern Sea Route are both efforts to better meet customer needs for accurate information. Weathernews is a company that creates value for customers by asking not how much we can profit, but firstly how wonderful our service could be for them. So we are looking forward to seeing all the wonderful things that will happen by working together with the people of Russia. The launch of WNISAT-1R is just the beginning.”
The resident Japanese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia, Toyohisa Kozuki, was in attendance at the opening ceremony in Moscow, and offered the following remark:
“When I look at the Northern Sea Route, I see the tremendous potential to bring Russia and Japan closer together. Weathernews has also been providing a valuable service to Russia by supporting the safe delivery of modular vessels for LNG plant construction, and that is also extremely important for commercial shipping companies using NSR. These business activities will contribute to further strengthening Russo-Japanese economic relationships.”

Besides the maritime industry, Weathernews will continue to make efforts to develop our weather risk services for other industries like aviation that we are currently providing in Asia and other regions. Weathernews is ultimately going to contribute to the minimization of weather risks for all economic activities in Russia through our diverse menu of weather driven risk communication services.

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