Photo/Illutration The company logo of IHI Corp. (Go Takahashi)

NIIGATA—The transport ministry is conducting on-site inspections of two plants of an IHI Corp. subsidiary that have falsified fuel economy data for ship and railway engines for at least 20 years.

The probes started at IHI Power Systems Co.’s plants in Niigata and Ota, Gunma Prefecture, on April 25, a day after IHI announced that test data of 4,361 engines, or about 80 percent of the 5,337 shipped from the two plants since 2003, had been manipulated.

Of the affected diesel and gas engines, 4,215 were designed for ships, such as fishing boats and cargo vessels. The remainder were for land transportation equipment, such as railways.

The products were supplied to domestic and overseas customers.

At a news conference on April 24, IHI, a major heavy machinery manufacturer, said it has not confirmed any cases that raise concerns about the safety of any engines.

The transport ministry on the same day called on IHI and its engine production subsidiary to ascertain the facts and develop preventive measures, and submit a report by the end of May.

IHI Power Systems employees have falsified fuel consumption rates that were measured during a test run of completed engines before delivery to customers.

Data was often changed to reflect better fuel economy than actual measurements. In other cases, it was downgraded to narrow discrepancies among products, officials said.

The ministry inspections, based on the Ship Safety Law, focus on ship engines.

The subsidiary’s in-house investigation showed that some products could be in violation of nitrogen oxide emissions regulations stipulated by the Marine Pollution Prevention Law and the International Maritime Organization.

The ministry told the company that it will not issue international certificates for diesel engines required for navigation until it confirms they comply with the regulations. The measure makes it difficult for the company to supply ship engines.

The irregularities came to light after a whistleblower reported the discrepancies in late February.

The in-house investigation suggested that falsifications may have been ongoing since the 1980s, officials said.

An employee also told investigators that all workers engaged in engine test runs were aware that data has been falsified, officials said.

Customers of IHI Power Systems include the Japan Coast Guard and Hokkaido Railway Co. But IHI has not disclosed whether the affected engines were delivered to the entities. 

IHI will establish a special investigation committee of outside experts to determine the cause of the problem and formulate measures to prevent a recurrence.

In 2019, IHI received a business improvement order from the transport ministry after an inspection irregularity was discovered involving aircraft engines, its mainstay product.

“We admit that our efforts (to rectify operations) were only half done,” Hideo Morita, IHI senior executive officer, said at a news conference in Tokyo on April 24.

(This article was compiled from reports by Go Takahashi, Eishi Kado, Kanako Tanaka and Sho Hatsumi.)

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