The once glorious Sanguang steamboat: a curtain call on a long history.
With the sale of the last ship, the 90-year-old legend of Japan's Miko Kisen has finally come to an end, a veteran shipowner who has experienced bankruptcy and reorganization twice.
According to Japan**, Mitsuko Kisen has found a buyer for its last vessel. The 82,500 dwt bulk carrier, named "Sanko Hawking", was built in 2021 by Tsuneishi Shipbuilding. According to the vesselsvalue estimate, the ship is currently worth about 36.35 million US dollars, or 2 yuan6.2 billion yuan. And the "Sanko Hawking" also became the only surviving ship in the list of the fleet of Sanko Steamboat.
On the occasion of the exit, the historical review of the Sanguang steamboat is embarrassing. The predecessor of this company was Sanko Shipping, which was founded in 1934, and initially engaged in the ship brokerage business and operated its own ships. With the outbreak of World War II, Sanguang Shipping benefited from the increased demand for the Tianjin route and its business was stable.
In 1937, the entrepreneur and politician Toshio Kawamoto took over as president of Mitsuko Shipping, and the following year the company changed its name to Mitsuko Steamship and began to expand its business to include the operation of medium-sized ships and the acquisition of second-hand ships, and even entered the shipbuilding industry. After the war, in order to meet the needs of reconstruction, Miko Kisen expanded its fleet and was listed on the Tokyo ** Stock Exchange in 1949.
However, the oil crisis of the 1970s plunged the company into recession, and a large number of new ships were not profitable. In 1985, Mitsuko Kisen filed for bankruptcy and reorganization, with debts of 520 billion yen, making it one of the largest bankruptcy cases in post-war Japan. The bankruptcy also involved the joint and several liability of Toshio Kawamoto, the director of the Okinawa Development Agency at the time, who resigned as minister.
In 1998, Mitsuko Kisen completed the first round of bankruptcy reorganization, and then in 2000, Matsui became the company's new president. Prior to the financial crisis, the company's performance peaked between 2007 and 2008, with record sales of 229.3 billion yen and an operating profit of 79.7 billion yen, with a sales margin of 35%.
However, the good times were short-lived. Prior to the financial crisis, the company's over-investment led to a deterioration in performance, and orders for dozens of offshore support vessels and medium-sized bulk carriers became a burden. In July 2012, Mitsuko Steamship filed for bankruptcy reorganization again, with debts as high as 155.8 billion yen and ship rental debts as high as 405.6 billion yen.
In 2013, Mitsuko Kisen signed a sponsorship agreement with the U.S. investment group Elliott to receive 5 billion yen in support. Tabata took over as president, and the fleet was reduced from 44 to 28 ships. At the end of 2014, Sanguang Steamship ended the second bankruptcy procedure and began normal operation.
However, even with a new life, the plight of the Miko steamboat has not dissipated. Affected by the strengthening of the yen exchange rate and other factors, the company's performance continued to decline from 2015 to 2016, and the size of the fleet continued to shrink.
Finally, in 2019, Miko Kisen ordered a Kamsarmax bulk carrier from Tsuneishi Shipbuilding, which was the first new ship order since 2012 and the last new ship order. The new vessel, which was delivered in 2021 and named "Sanko Hawking", also became the last vessel to be sold in the Mitsuko steamboat fleet.
At the end of this legend, the history of Mitsuko Steamboat has left many lessons. The once brilliant company ended up in trouble due to multiple factors such as overinvestment and changes in the external environment. Its fate tells us that even a century-old enterprise needs to constantly adapt to change, maintain a keen sense of the market and a flexible business strategy. At the end of this era of great exploration, the curtain call of the Sanguang steamboat may be the end of an era, but the voyage of history will continue, leaving more stories worth exploring and learning.