Japan’s Shipping Giants Back New Effort to Revive Shipbuilding

Japan’s three leading shipping companies — Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui OSK Lines and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha — are partnering with the country’s major shipyards in a coordinated bid to boost domestic shipbuilding. According to Nikkei Asia, the companies will invest in MILES, a Tokyo based design firm jointly owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (51%) and Imabari Shipbuilding (49%).

The initiative is intended to standardize bulk carrier designs and restart production of LNG carriers in Japan, a segment that has shifted largely overseas. Industry analysts note similarities to China’s SDARI model, where centralized, government supported design work has helped drive efficiency and uniformity across newbuild programs.

The investment aligns with a broader government initiative to modernize Japanese shipyards. As part of a wide range of stimulus measures announced last week, the new administration led by Sanae Takaichi is proposing a 10 year public private fund worth around Y1 trillion ($6.4 billion) to expand the country’s shipbuilding capacity, with the aim of doubling output by 2035 compared to 2024 levels.

Japan once dominated the global shipbuilding industry, producing roughly half of the world’s ships in the 1990s. Today, its market share has fallen to about 10 percent, well behind China at 70 percent and South Korea.