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| Company type | Public (K.K) |
|---|---|
| TYO:7004 | |
| ISIN | JP3789000001  |
| Industry | Heavy Industry |
| Founded | 1881; 145 years ago (1881) |
| Founder | Edward H. Hunter |
| Headquarters | Osaka,Japan |
| Website | kanadevia.com |
Kanadevia Corporation (Japanese:カナデビア株式会社,Hepburn:KanadebiaKabushiki-kaisha), formerlyHitachi Zosen Corporation (日立造船株式会社,Hitachi Zōsen Kabushiki-kaisha), is a major Japanese industrial and engineering corporation. It produceswaste treatment plants, industrial plants, precision machinery, industrial machinery,steel mill process equipment, steel structures,construction machinery,tunnel boring machines,marine engines, andpower plants.
Despite its former name, Hitachi Zosen, of which the last word literally meansshipbuilding, no longer builds ships, having spun off the business toUniversal Shipbuilding Corporation in 2002, nor is it akeiretsu company ofHitachi any longer. Reflecting this, the company changed its name to Kanadevia in October 2024.[1]
Kanadevia's origins go back to April 1, 1881, when British entrepreneur Edward H. Hunter establishedOsaka Iron Works (大阪鉄工所,Ōsaka Tekkosho) inOsaka to develop the Japanese steel-making andshipbuilding industry. Hunter had come to Japan in 1865 and had established the Onohama Shipyard inKobe before 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, theHatsumaru was launched in 1882.[2] 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 tanker built in Japan, the 531-tonTora maru was launched in 1908, forStandard Oil Company.[3]
Another shipyard was constructed atInnoshima, Hiroshima in 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 power plants in 1924.[4]
The company was re-organized in 1934, coming under the overall control of theNissanzaibatsu, and was renamed asK.K. Nihon Sangyō Osaka Tekkoshō.[5]
While most of the lucrative contracts for naval warships for theImperial Japanese Navy went to Osaka Iron Work’s competitors, the company did build a large number of smaller auxiliary vessels such asminesweepers,landing craft, transportsubmarines and was involved in the conversion of old merchant ships for military use. Kanadevia 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 atKanagawa and acquiring the existing Mukaishima shipyard in 1943. It also changed its name toHitachi Zosen Corporation in 1943.
After thesurrender of Japan at the end of World War II, under theSCAP's economic democratization policy (dissolution of thezaibatsu and large business enterprises), the company was spun out fromHitachi, Ltd. in 1947. Since then Kanadevia has been independent from Hitachi or theNissan Group although it is still a member of theShunko-kai andShunko Kowa-kai.[6] Kanadevia quickly restarted operations as a builder offishing vessels and coastal transports. By 1955, Kanadevia 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 fertilizer plant forIndia in 1964. In the shipbuilding field, Hitachi began to specialize in ever larger sizes of oil tankers, pioneering in methods forcomputer assisted design and 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. Kanadevia, with over 50% of its revenues from ships was hard hit by the cancellation in orders forsupertankers and 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.[7]
The company also made strong efforts to diversify away from the shipbuilding roots, expanding especially intoindustrial andmunicipal wastedisposal facilities. 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 battery with a capacity of 1000mAh, which the company reckoned is the world's highest in its kind.[8]
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."[9] The compensation payment was based on a ruling from the South Korean Supreme Court in December 2023.[9]
In October 1, 2024 the company changed its name toKanadevia Corporation.[10]
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