T e IHI and Universal merger is a classic
example of the strategies being employed by Japan’s medium sized yards to see their way through the economic crisis. One yard, Oshima, however, is not adhering to the standard strategies available. Oshima Shipyard, while looking at
overseas expansion and innovation, has also taken the far riskier route of maintaining market share through the recession even if it means building ships at a loss. “Our strategy is to maintain our orderbook, but we will be producing at a loss,” explained Shigehiro Mori, naval architect and general manager at Oshima. Mori went on say: “Our biggest fear is
no jobs. If we have jobs we can manage we believe.” In fact Oshima’s strategy of maintaining
its market share is only one element of a three-pronged strategy for the future, the other elements for moving forward include cutting costs and investing abroad. T e yard has obtained a permit to operate a yard in Vietnam and “we expect to be in Vietnam within the next fi ve years,” explained Mori. Shipbuilding prices are too low at the
moment for Oshima to invest overseas, so the company will wait until the market sees an improvement, though Mori says that the yard will likely start with building bulk carriers in Vietnam, “though this is not yet decided”, he says, adding that the “Vietnam yard is a very sensitive issue,” due to the fears in Japan of job losses. Mori, however, moved to allay these fears
by saying: “T e Japan yard is operating at capacity at the moment.” Cutting costs was the third element to the
overall Oshima strategy and to achieve lower costs the yard is looking to buy maritime equipment at lower prices by importing it from South Korea. “We buy some equipment from Korea to compensate for our currency losses,” explained Mori. T e strength of the Yen has proved to be a
hindrance to Japanese yards and many have taken the politically sensitive step of buying some equipment from abroad. For Oshima this could mean buying generator engines, ladders and other equipment. The Korean Marine Equipment
Manufacturers Association (KOMEA) told T e Naval Architect that with Korea’s major yards switching up to 65% of its capacity to offshore projects its members had
The Naval Architect September 2012
been looking for other markets and it was increasing its exports to Japan. Although Japanese yards are reluctant to
talk about the foreign sourcing of maritime equipment, they do tentatively admit to succumbing to the lure of cheaper imports, but usually add that they are encouraging Japanese suppliers to compete with the Korean and Chinese imports by reducing their costs. Naoki Ueda, deputy general manager, ship
& ocean engineering division at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), conceded that this
was a very politically sensitive and highly charged issue, but he did concede that MHI had “looked” at Korean and Chinese equipment imports. T ough Ueda added: “We are looking to promote Japanese suppliers and we are encouraging them to move into markets that use higher technology such as cruise and LNG shipping.” Even so the dearth of orders in Japan has
seen MHI switch production at its Kobe yard to nuclear power for example. Imabari president Yukito Higaki holds a similar view to Ueda, but says that if the cost
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51
In-depth
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