On April 24, local time, IHI, a major Japanese heavy industry company, admitted that its subsidiary, IHI Power Systems, had falsified fuel economy data for marine and land engines for at least 20 years. Subsequently, Japan’s Transport Ministry launched an investigation into two factories under IHI Power Systems that had falsified data.
Japanese media reported that of the 5,537 engines produced by IHI since 2003 for marine and other equipment, 4,361 engines, or nearly 79 percent, had their test data tampered with. Of the 4,361 engines, 2,058 did not meet the specifications set under contracts with its customers, according to IHI. After the scandal broke, Japan’s Transport Ministry began an investigation of IHI Power Systems, a subsidiary of IHI, at its plants in Niigata and Ota.
“It is a betrayal of our customers’ trust,” IHI Senior Executive Officer Hideo Morita said at a press conference. “We are in a grave situation in which the foundation of our manufacturing has been shaken.”
Of the 4,361 engines whose test data has been tampered with, the vast majority (4,215) belong to marine engines ordered by customers in Japan and abroad. IHI clarified the scandal after a whistleblower first made allegations two months ago.
In addition to tampering with fuel consumption rates, the engines in question may have violated the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission regulations, a scandal that could lead to urgent, multi-billion-dollar retrofits of a significant portion of the world’s merchant fleet at a time when shipyards around the globe are “running on fumes”.
Japan’s Transport Ministry has taken action to prevent IHI from continuing to sell engines until it can be confirmed that the exhaust emissions from IHI’s engines meet the required standards. Five years ago, Japan also investigated IHI’s aircraft engines.
The shipping industry is also known to have been the scene of previous engine scandals.In 2011, Volkswagen’s engine manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions was fined for its misleading fuel consumption claims, and in 2016, Finnish technology giant Wärtsilä revealed that the company’s delivery center in Trieste, Italy, had detected certain fuel consumption measurement test Deviations.