Oshima Shipbuilding

Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. is a privately held Japanese shipbuilding company. The company was founded on February 7, 1973 and began operations in June 1974. It is a joint venture between Sumitomo Corporation, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, and the Daizo Corporation.

History

Oshima launched its first ship in 1975. The disruptions in the oil industry of the 1970s caused the company difficulties. Between 1975 and 1979 Oshima reduced its workforce from 1,800 to 785. In response, the company repositioned itself to specialize in building handymax and panamax bulk carriers.

The company has built 400 bulk carriers and delivers about 25 new ships annually to a worldwide client base. As of 2003, the company has annual revenues of 61,900,000,000 Yen and a staff of 975 full-time employees. An additional 660 workers work for Oshima on a subcontracting basis.

Products

The company specializes in building bulk carriers. It has a number of standard designs, featuring bulkers with capacities from 33,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT) to 82,000 DWT in the handysize, handymax, and panamax size classes. The company also has a line of specialized coal carriers with capacities from 86,000 DWT to 106,000 DWT. Some of the handymax-sized vessels have optional open and semi-open hatch configurations.