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MV Brazil Maru

21°12′59″N 110°25′13″E / 21.216389°N 110.420361°E / 21.216389; 110.420361

MV Brazil Maru
Brazil Maru at sea in 1955
History
Japan
Name
  • 1954–1974: Brazil Maru
  • 1974–1997: Toba Brazil Maru
  • 1997–1998: Zhanjiang
  • 1998–present: Hai Shang Cheng Shi[1]
Namesake
Owner
Operator1974-1996: Toba Brazil Maru Tourist Company
RouteKobe to Buenos Aires
BuilderShin Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard, Kobe, Japan
Yard number858
Laid down27 October 1953
Launched6 April 1954
Completed10 July 1954[2]
Maiden voyage30 July 1954[3]
In service1954
Out of serviceFebruary 1974
IdentificationIMO number: 5050866
FateTourist attraction, currently closed
StatusBeached, Zhanjiang
General characteristics
TypeCargo liner
Tonnage
Length
Beam19.60 m (64.3 ft)
Depth11.90 m (39.0 ft)
Installed power1 Shin-Mitsubishi Kobe Sulzer 10RSD76 diesel engine
Propulsionsingle screw, 9,000 bhp (6,700 kW)
Speed
  • 16.25 knots (30.10 km/h; 18.70 mph)[4]
  • 20.3 knots (37.6 km/h; 23.4 mph) (maximum speed)[6]
Capacity
  • 982 passengers: 12 first class, 68 second class, 902 third class
  • 360 passengers: 12 cabin class, 348 economy class (1965 rebuild)[8]
Crew118[7]

MV Brazil Maru is a retired Japanese cargo liner that sailed for the Japanese shipping company, Osaka Shosen KK [ja], on the Japan to South America immigrant service from 1954 to 1963.

Built by the Shin Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard in Kobe, Japan, she departed on her maiden voyage on the 30 July 1954. She was transferred to Nihon Ijusen KK in 1963 and later Mitsui O.S.K. Lines in 1970. After a decline in the immigrant trade and a period as an unsuccessful cruise ship. The Brazil Maru was retired in 1974 and moored as a maritime tourist attraction named Toba Brazil Maru in Toba, Mie Prefecture, Japan, but was closed and sold to ship breakers at Shanghai in 1996. Sold again in 1997 and beached as a tourist attraction Hai Shang Cheng Shi in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China in 1998, the vessel remains there today but has since closed.

Construction

[edit]

After the Second World War, Osaka Shosen KK [ja] resumed its South American service under permission granted by the SCAP.[9] Following the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1952, South American emigration was reinstated as a national policy, and Osaka Shosen KK subsequently converted three cargo ships into cargo-passenger ships with the addition of third-class cabins that were hastily added.[10] Seeking more tonnage on the immigrant-run, Osaka Shosen KK decided to build the Brazil Maru.[11]

Her construction contract was signed on 10 October 1953,[12] and the Brazil Maru was laid down on 27 October 1953 at the Shin-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard. She was launched on 6 April 1954, and completed on the 10th of July, being delivered to her owners that same day.[10][6] She was powered by the first of the newly in production Shin-Mitsubishi Kobe Sulzer 10RSD76 diesel engine, which was developed by the shipyard, and provided a total of 9,000 brake horsepower to one propeller.[11] She had a bale capacity of 402,587.2 cubic feet (11,400.00 m3), and weighed 10,100 GRT.[4]

Immigrant-run and cruising

[edit]

Twenty days after completion, the Brazil Maru departed on her maiden voyage from Kobe on 30 July 1954.[3] Her maiden complement consisted of 603 emigrants to Brazil and 293 other passengers on board.[9] Her 44-day voyage included ports Nagoya, Yokohama, Los Angeles, Cristobal, La Guaira, Belem, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires.[3]

Brazil Maru covered in ribbons during departure from a port

The Brazil Marus initial years were marked by economic success, including the construction of a sister ship, the 10,983 ton Argentina Maru in 1958. However, the emergence of the Japanese economic miracle in the 1950s led to a decrease in Japanese immigration to South America.[9][13]

In 1963, the Brazil Maru was transferred to Nihon Ijusen KK and bareboat chartered back to Osaka Shosen KK.[9][2] Further declines in immigration from Japan in the 1960s led to the number of emigrants traveling aboard the Brazil Maru to fall below 1,000 per year, and the Brazil Maru was subsequently refitted at the Shin-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard to reduce its passenger capacity by half in August 1965.[11] Following the conversion, she was registered at 10,216 GRT, and now only operated on the immigrant-run three times a year, resuming service on 30 October.[13][6]

The Brazil Maru was registered to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines in 1970.[2] Utilized increasingly for cruising from Japan to Shanghai, the Brazil Maru proved unsuccessful and was initially withdrawn from service and laid up 6 March 1973, but operated one last cruise to Shanghai before being withdrawn permanently from service in February 1974.[13][14][6] Over 20 years, the Brazil Maru had made a total of 58 long-distance voyages, including 55 voyages to South America and other special voyages to Australia, transporting about 67,000 passengers on the South American route, of which 16,000 were immigrants.[15][16]

Retirement and conversion

[edit]

With the ships incoming retirement, plans were devised for her future, with the city of Toba establishing the "Special Committee for the Promotion of the Brazil Maru" to begin its advertising campaign for the vessels future role.[6][17]After being retired, the Brazil Maru was renamed the Toba Brazil Maru and refitted at her original builders, the Shin Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard, for use as a maritime tourist attraction moored in Ise Bay off Toba, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The Toba Brazil Maru opened on 1 July 1974, though officially opened on 5 July.[11][6] She was operated by the Toba Brazil Maru Tourist Company, which was formed on 23 January 1974 and financed by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, as well as the Toba City Development Public Corporation, Kintetsu Railway, Ataka Sangyo Co., Ltd., and other Mitsui Group companies.[18][17]

The Toba Brazil Maru featured new exhibition rooms such as the "Marine Corner", which included models of ancient ships, and the "Brazil Corner", which showed the nature and culture of Brazil through videos and panels, as well as amenities such as a restaurant, a game corner, and a shopping corner.[15] Her wheelhouse and engine room had been preserved as in service.[18] Kids playground equipment designed to look like the character of Lemuel Gulliver from Irish writer Jonathan Swifts book Gulliver's Travels was installed on the ship sometime after February 1976, but was removed and relocated to the Shimin no Mori Park in Toba in 1985.[19][20][21] When opened, she was initially painted in the livery of her previous operator Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, but her hull was later repainted white.[22][20]

Despite high visitation, primarily through student field trips. Poor business following the burst of the Japanese asset price bubble led to the Toba Brazil Maru being closed on 30 January 1996, a farewell party for the ship was held on board on 20 January. Her last three days of operation were free for visitors, with 9,000 visitors in total.[23] In her twenty two years open as Toba Brazil Maru, she attracted a total of about 10 million visitors.[24] After closure, the ship was used as an office to liquidate the Toba Brazil Maru Tourist Company.[16] She was sold to breakers in Shanghai for dismantling in February 1996, and departed Toba for Shanghai on 29 May.[25][20]

The Toba Brazil Maru was purchased in 1997 by Zhang Huasheng, chairman of Zhanjiang Maritime City Tourism and Entertainment, a company based in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China. Renamed Zhanjiang, she was beached in Zhanjiang in 1998 and used as a floating tourist attraction called Hai Shang Cheng Shi.[1] Modified to house new facilities and restaurants, her exterior and wheelhouse were left largely intact.[26][27] Photos taken in 2012 showed the Hai Shang Cheng Shi was still open but in disrepair, with damaged lifeboats and heavy rusting.[1] She was seen undergoing maintenance in 2018, and by then had new additions added to her superstructure.[28] In 2020, the Hai Shang Cheng Shi was used as a set in the Chinese television series The Bad Kids.[29] By 2022, the Hai Shang Cheng Shi was reportedly closed and can be seen via satellite in Zhanjiang as of 2024.[30][31]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c worlddiscoverer (2013). "Hai Shang Cheng Shi". www.flickr.com. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Haworth, Roger. "5050866". Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Today's Marine Day (2024). "The second "Brazil Maru", which served as an immigrant ship to South America after the war, set sail on its maiden voyage from Kobe Port on July 30, 1954". blog.canpan.info. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d The Japanese Society of Naval Architects and Maritime Engineers. ""Brazil Maru" model". zousen-shiryoukan.jasnaoe.or.jp. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  5. ^ a b Kiyofumi Nakauchi. "Structural model of the South American immigrant ship "Brazil Maru" (1950s-1970s, 2nd generation)". www.oceandictionary.jp. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Arnold Kludas (1985). "Osaka Shosen Liners". Great Passenger Ships of the World. Vol. 5. P. Stephens. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-85059-265-8.
  7. ^ a b The Japanese Society of Naval Architects and Maritime Engineers. "Osaka Shosen "Brazil Maru" (2nd generation) Photo Album (Part 1)". zousen-shiryoukan.jasnaoe.or.jp. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  8. ^ Björn Larsson (2005). "Mitsui-OSK Lines". www.timetableimages.com. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d Toshio Okada (1966). The 80-Year History of Osaka Shosen Co., Ltd. Osaka Shosen Mitsui Senpaku. OCLC 22801252.
  10. ^ a b Kobe Shipyard 50 Year History Compilation Committee (1957). 50 Year History of the New Mitsubishi Kobe Shipyard. Shin Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Kobe Shipyard. p. 143.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ a b c d "Nakanihon Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Kobe Shipyard". Ships of Nakanihon Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Kobe Shipyard. jpnships.g.dgdg.jp. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  12. ^ Today's Marine Day (2024). "The second "Brazil Maru," which became the mainstay of the postwar South American emigration fleet, was launched on April 6, 1954". blog.canpan.info. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  13. ^ a b c Hisashi Noma (1993). Cultural History of Luxury Cruise Ships. NTT Shuppan. ISBN 4-87188-210-1.
  14. ^ Acemva (2009). "Brazil Maru". historiasdebarcos.blogspot.com. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  15. ^ a b Tsutomu Katayama (1976). Ad Campaign: Records and Analysis of 18 Cases. Diamond Publishing.
  16. ^ a b Asahi Shimbun (1996). 16,000 people to South America: Brazil Maru, a 'symbol' of postwar migration, to be dismantled. Nagoya edition. p. 27.
  17. ^ a b Toba City, Mie Prefecture (2008). "Toba City Tourism Basic Plan - Supplementary Reference Volume - A Brief Chronology of Tourism in Toba" (PDF). www.city.toba.mie.jp. p. 22.
  18. ^ a b Takeda Taiki (1995). Ran, No. 29. Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers. p. 23.
  19. ^ "I found a photo of the #TobaBrazilMaru". x.com. 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  20. ^ a b c "A preserved ship that records history: Toba Brazil Maru, reprinted 2010 06 12". teikisen.cocolog-nifty. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  21. ^ "An adventurous trip to Toba - Encounter the giant park playground equipment named "Gulliver"". Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  22. ^ Kenji (2014). "Where is that ship going?". ameblo.jp. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  23. ^ Asahi Shimbun (1996). "Society section". The second voyage ends: Toba Brazil Maru closes. Nagoya edition. p. 27.
  24. ^ La Mer. Brazil Maru, a ship that tells the story of South American immigration, has finally closed.
  25. ^ "Brazil Maru Farewell Party". www.geocities.jp. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  26. ^ "Vol. 696". Ships of the World. Kaijinsha. 2008.
  27. ^ Wada Yoshiji (2009). "The Brazil Maru is still alive!!". 40anos.nikkeybrasil.com.br. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  28. ^ Lee Zuzu (2018). "Zhanjiang's sea-viewing corridor is about 1.7 kilometers long and is the most beautiful view of Xiashan". k.sina.cn. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  29. ^ Great Channel (2020). "The hit drama "The Bad Kids" has increased tourism in Zhanjiang, where filming took place, by 261%". www.thepaper.cn/. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  30. ^ Travel and life of Hannan (2022). "Why is the once glorious Maritime City of Zhanjiang now deserted and rusty?". www.ixigua.com/. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  31. ^ "21°12'59.0"N 110°25'13.3"E · Xiashan District, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China".