Following the IHI, a major Japanese heavy industry company, prime mover marine engine fuel data falsification scandal in Japan in the first half of this year, another Japanese engine maker broke out in a data falsification incident involving thousands of marine engines!
On July 5, Hitachi Zosen Corporation announced that two of its subsidiaries had falsified fuel efficiency data for large marine engines. According to current statistics, since 1999, the number of large marine engines involved in data falsification is 1,364 units.
Hitachi Zosen stated in the announcement titled “Misconduct in the Group’s Marine Engine Business” that it had conducted a self-inspection of its marine engine business at the request of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The results confirmed that Hitachi Zosen Engines and IMEX, two of its subsidiaries engaged in the engine business, had engaged in “improper behavior (inappropriately rewriting data)” in the fuel consumption rates recorded in the “workshop test results” submitted by the two engine companies to their customers during customer-witnessed workshop commissioning tests since 1999.
Specifically, during the workshop commissioning test, the vendor modified the data in order to keep the fuel consumption rate within the allowable range required by the customer’s specifications and to minimize variations in the data. Since the NOx emissions validation test was also conducted at the same time, this also had the potential to affect the calculation of NOx emissions.
According to data released by Hitachi Zosen, the results of the survey of engines manufactured by Hitachi Zosen Engines (from November 1999 to July 4, 2024) and IMEX (from September 1999 to July 4, 2024) that comply with the NOx emission regulations and have completed workshop commissioning tests are as follows.
Of the 1,366 engines investigated (most of which were non-Japanese-flagged vessels), only two were free of data falsification.
“We sincerely apologize to all stakeholders,” Hitachi Zosen said, but the company also argued that “we believe that this issue stems from a lack of awareness of compliance, and that these engines have not yet been found to create safety issues during testing and ship operations.”
The company said it is verifying whether there were any violations of laws, regulations and standards related to marine engines, etc. Also in response to the matter, a special investigation committee consisting of outside experts will be set up to find out the truth, investigate the causes and propose measures to prevent a recurrence.
According to Hitachi Zosen’s official website, the company has produced diesel engines totaling more than 30 million horsepower since 1951, when it completed its first B&W diesel engine. The company is the only manufacturer of electronically controlled marine diesel engines in Japan to be authorized by both MAN and Win GD.
July 2023 Hitachi Zosen Engine announces completion of the world’s first MAN B&W S60ME-C10.6 marine diesel engine
It is reported that on April 24 of this year, MLIT issued a reminder to Japanese marine engine manufacturers about “the importance of complying with environmental and safety laws and regulations related to the manufacture of marine engines, and the necessity of conducting business correctly”. The timing is the IHI prime mover engine forgery scandal broke out during the IHI prime mover on April 24, the same day issued a statement of apology and “Notice of Misconduct”, the engine manufacturer has admitted that nearly 4,900 units of marine engines have been delivered, of which 86% of the data has been tampered with.
It is understood that MLIT plans to conduct an on-site investigation at the plant of Hitachi Zosen’s subsidiary, and has asked 19 other Japanese marine engine manufacturers to investigate and report on whether similar “misconduct” exists.
