A famous site in Japanese shipbuilding history is no more. The Aichi Works, belonging to conglomerate IHI, closed down on Friday.
The yard, which opened in 1973 and houses one of the largest drydocks in the country, was forced to close as offshore orders disappeared. The site is now set for redevelopment, while the 500 workers there will be reassigned work within the IHI empire.
In 2013, IHI merged its main shipyard division with Universal Shipbuilding to create Japan Marine United, but its Aichi site was kept outside of the deal and has since maintained its focus on offshore structures as well as SPB tanks for LNG carriers. However, demand for its Aichi products has virtually disappeared forcing the closure of the yard.
