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Hitachi Zosen Corporation

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Hitachi Zosen Corporation
Ngày lập tạo thuyền kabushiki gaisha
Company typePublic(K.K)
TYO:7004
ISINJP3789000001Edit this on Wikidata
IndustryHeavy Industry
Founded1881;143 years ago(1881)
FounderEdward H. Hunter
HeadquartersOsaka,Japan
Websitehttp:// hitachizosen.co.jp/

Hitachi Zosen Corporation(Ngày lập tạo thuyền kabushiki gaisha,Hitachi Zōsen Kabushiki-kaisha)is a major Japanese industrial and engineering corporation. It produceswaste treatmentplants, industrial plants, precision machinery, industrial machinery,steel millprocess equipment, steel structures,construction machinery,tunnel boring machines,andpower plants.Despite its name, Hitachi Zosen, of which the last word literally meansshipbuilding,no longer builds ships, having spun off the business toUniversal Shipbuilding Corporationin 2002, nor is it akeiretsucompany ofHitachiany longer.

History[edit]

Hitachi Zōsen's origins go back to April 1, 1881, when British entrepreneur Edward H. Hunter establishedOsaka Iron Works(Osaka thiết công sở,Ōsaka Tekkosho)inOsakato develop the Japanese steel-making andshipbuilding industry.Hunter had come to Japan in 1865 and had established the Onohama Shipyard inKobebefore moving to Osaka and establishing a new shipyard at the junction of the Nakatsu and Aki rivers which could construct ships of under 1000 tons displacement. His first vessel, theHatsumaruwas launched in 1882.[1]Hunter intended to build a company which was completely self-sufficient, and also produced engines, boilers, bridges and irrigation equipment.

An additional facility was established downstream on the Aji river at Sakurajima in 1900 to handle construction of vessels larger than 1000 tons. The firstoil tankerbuilt in Japan, the 531-tonTora maruwas launched in 1908, forStandard Oil Company.[2]

Another shipyard was constructed atInnoshima, Hiroshimain 1911. Hunter changed his name to "Hanta" in 1915 after marrying a Japanese woman, and after transforming the company into ajoint stock company,turned it over to his son, Ryutarō Hanta in 1915. The company continued to prosper, adding the Bingō Dockyard in 1919, Harada Shipbuilding Works in 1920, Hikojima Dockyard in 1924. Many of the iron bridges in Osaka and surrounding areas were designed and built by Osaka Iron Works. The company also began to expand into equipment forhydroelectric powerplants in 1924.[3]

The company was re-organized in 1934, coming under the overall control of theNissanzaibatsu,and was renamed asK.K. Nihon Sangyō Osaka Tekkoshō.[4]

While most of the lucrative contracts for naval warships for theImperial Japanese Navywent to Osaka Iron Work’s competitors, the company did build a large number of smaller auxiliary vessels such asminesweepers,landing craft,transportsubmarinesand was involved in the conversion of old merchant ships for military use. Hitachi Zōsen also built theKumano Maru,a transportaircraft carrier,at its Innoshima works in 1945. DuringWorld War II,the Osaka Iron Works expanded by opening a new shipyard atKanagawaand acquiring the existing Mukaishima shipyard in 1943. It also changed its name toHitachi Zosen Corporationin 1943.

After thesurrender of Japanat the end of World War II, under theSCAP's economic democratization policy (dissolution of thezaibatsuand large business enterprises), the company was spun out fromHitachi, Ltd.in 1947. Since then Hitachi Zōsen has been independent from Hitachi or theNissan Groupalthough it is still a member of theShunko-kaiandShunko Kowa-kai.[5]Hitachi Zōsen quickly restarted operations as a builder offishing vesselsand coastal transports. By 1955, Hitachi Zōsen had emerged as one of the largest shipbuilders in Japan. The company also expanded into other markets. In 1957, as part of a technical cooperation with B&W Diesel inDenmark,Hitachi built the world’s largestdiesel engine.It also completed its first turn-key overseas plant project with the completion of achemical fertilizerplant forIndiain 1964. In the shipbuilding field, Hitachi began to specialize in ever larger sizes of oil tankers, pioneering in methods forcomputer assisted designand modular, automated construction techniques. Hitachi acquired another shipyard, Maizuru Heavy Industries, in 1971 and opened a new shipyard at Ariake in Kyushu in 1973.

However, the global oil crisis of 1973 with its consequent reduction in ship demand resulted in financial difficulties for the company. Hitachi Zōsen, with over 50% of its revenues from ships was hard hit by the cancellation in orders forsupertankersand attempted to survive by turning tooil rigs,oil storage facilities, and steel structures, pipes and bridges. However, with rising material costs and losses due to fixed price contracts, high overhead and redundant facilities meant that the company had to restructure from the 1980s. By 1988, the company employed only 5,596 workers, down from 24,660 ten years earlier.[6]

The company also made strong efforts to diversify away from the shipbuilding roots, expanding especially intoindustrialandmunicipal wastedisposalfacilities. However, its boldest move was in October 2002, when it sold its shipbuilding operations to a new joint venture with NKK Corporation (nowJFE Holdings) calledUniversal Shipbuilding Corporation(now calledJapan Marine United).

In March 2021, Hitachi Zosen unveiled asolid-state batterywith a capacity of 1000mAh, which the company reckoned is the world's highest in its kind.[7]

In February 2024, Japanese Secretary of State Yoko Kamikawa stated that a recent decision by the South Korean government to authorize the transfer of money from Hitatchi Zosen to a South Korean plaintiff who sued for compensation based on the issue of labor from the era of Japan's 1910 to 1945 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula left the company at an "unreasonable disadvantage."[8]The compensation payment was based on a ruling from the South Korean Supreme Court in December 2023.[8]

Misconduct REporting[edit]

On July 5, 2024, Hitachi Zosen Marine Engine and IMEX informed ClassNK of discrepancies in the data regarding fuel consumption rates during the shop trials of their marine engines. This issue involves 950 engines from Hitachi Zosen Marine Engine and 414 engines from IMEX, with approximately 60% of these engines installed on vessels registered with ClassNK.[9][10]


Notes[edit]

  1. ^Lindberg.Brown-, Green- and Blue-Water Fleets.page 78
  2. ^Pederson.International Directory of Company Histories
  3. ^Pederson.International Directory of Company Histories
  4. ^Inkster.Japanese Industrialisation.Page 124.
  5. ^Organizational StructureShunko Konwa-kai
  6. ^Pederson.International Directory of Company Histories
  7. ^"'World's highest-capacity' solid-state battery developed in Japan ".Nikkei Asia.Retrieved2021-03-04.
  8. ^ab"Japan, South Korea agree to work on North Korea issues".Kyodo News. February 22, 2024.RetrievedFebruary 22,2024.
  9. ^Sharma, Yukta (2024-07-08)."Concerning Inappropriate Conduct of Hitachi Zosen Marine Engine and IMEX".Nautical Voice.Retrieved2024-07-08.
  10. ^"Topics | ClassNK - English".classnk.or.jp.Retrieved2024-07-08.

References[edit]

  • Inkster, Ian (2001).Japanese Industrialisation: Historical and Cultural Perspectives.Routledge.ISBN0-415-24444-7.
  • Lindberg, Michael (2001).Brown-, Green- and Blue-Water Fleets: The Influence of Geography on Naval Warfare, 1861 to the Present.Praeger Publishers.ISBN0-275-96486-8.
  • Pederson, Jap P (2008).International Directory of Company Histories.St James Press.ISBN978-1-55862-614-0.
  • Samuels, Richard J (1996).Rich Nation, Strong Army ": National Security and the Technological Transformation of Japan.Cornell University Press.ISBN0-8014-9994-1.

External links[edit]

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