Japan's Tsuneishi Holdings Corporation said that its shipbuilding business output was nearly flat with the construction of 45 ships in the fiscal year ending December 2016.
However, ship orders declined markedly due to the impact of last-minute orders before environmental regulations went into effect in 2015.
"Our shipping business, affected by the dry bulk market downturn, recorded sales of 26.9 billion yen, a YOY decline of 5.7 billion yen (-17%)," says a company statement.
"In response to falling ship prices and ocean freight affected by excess shipping tonnage worldwide, we will promote a strategic product mix and build a structure to accommodate diverse needs. Besides our core bulk carrier ship model, we also construct container carriers, livestock carriers, and tugboats," says the statement.
This has been further augmented this fiscal year with the addition of MIHO SHIPYARD, a new group subsidiary that mainly builds fishing boats. By around 2023, the company aim to lower the construction ratio of bulk carriers and shift to other ship types, such as tankers and container carriers.
In 2017, the company will complete capital investments at the Tsuneishi factory (mother factory) that have been in the works since 2014, so productivity is expected to further improve.
"We will also prepare for the impending labour shortage caused by a declining population and work to improve productivity while maintaining the quality that TSUNEISHI is known for. Ongoing initiatives include research of new technology, joint research with Carnegie Mellon University of leading-edge robotic technologies, etc., and active implementation of IoT with the objectives of information sharing and visualisation," adds the statement.
Tsuneishi Shipbuilding marks its 100th anniversary in 2017. "We plan to invest in the next 100 years by updating company uniforms, building new dormitories for unmarried workers, and more," the statement concluded.