Page 25: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2006)

March 2006 25

By David Tinsley, Technical Editor

Against the backcloth of China's seemingly inexorable rise in the mar- itime industrial stakes, and with South

Korea commanding broader areas of the market, Japan continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience as a powerhouse of shipbuilding and ships' machinery.

That determination and dynamism is reflected in figures indicating that 2005 saw total annual production among

Japan's 11 leading marine diesel engine makers reach its highest level for many years.

According to statistics compiled by

Kaiji Press, output amounted to 9.12- million bhp, 21-percent up on the previ- ous year's 7.53-million bhp. Moreover, the combined backlog for the 11 compa- nies reached a new high of 19.3-million bhp by the close of 2005, an increase of nearly 25 percent on the situation 12 months before.

The enduring strength of Japan's engi- neering base within the maritime indus- trial infrastructure reflects the solid mar- ket position of the domestic shipbuild- ing sector, as its primary customer, and the engine manufacturers' consistency as regards productivity and contractual performance. During the low periods, not least in past years when the industry as a whole was faced with the debilitat- ing effects of the yen at its strongest, companies took steps to raise efficiency levels further through attention to inter- nal processes and through reinvestment in the means of manufacturing.

Some market pundits have regarded the ship machinery sector's level of exposure to the fortunes of the home shipbuilding industry as a potential weakness. However, the interwoven links, coupled with the business culture and disciplines applied by the compa- nies involved, have resulted in a steady upward trend among the engine makers over the past 10 years. A recent invest- ment milestone for the industry was the completion of a new diesel propulsion assembly shop at the Tamano works of

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (MES), which leads the field in engine production in Japan.

Deliveries by MES during the finan- cial year are set to reach 3.71-million bhp, about 26-percent up on 2004 and more than double the figure for the end of the 1990s, and reflecting both expanding newbuild demand and the advance in average unit powers of ship- board propulsion plant.

The Kaiji Press data puts Hitachi

Zosen Corporation at second place in the 2005 output, with a total of 1.03-mil- lion bhp, closely followed by Mitsubishi

Heavy Industries, whose 1.01m-bhp was comprised of indigenous UE-series two-stroke diesels plus Wärtsilä Sulzer models produced under license.

Three of the companies had order backlogs in excess of three million bhp, namely MES (3.92-million bhp),

Hitachi (3.92-million bhp) and

Kawasaki (3.09-million bhp). MES pro- duction is focused on its role as a licens- ee of MAN B&W, and deliveries from

Tamano of the Danish-designed two- stroke series have increased substantial- ly in recent years, from a level of around 1.7-million bhp in the 2000 fiscal peri- od. Output in 2006 is scheduled to show

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Rising Japanese Engine Output

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