Imabari Shipbuilding and Sumitomo Heavy Industries to Collaborate on Ship Hull Construction

Imabari Shipbuilding and Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., Japan’s largest shipbuilders, will collaborate in ship hull construction. The two companies will fully utilize Sumitomo Heavy Industries’ Kanagawa Shipyard, which had previously planned to cease commercial shipbuilding in 2026. Sumitomo Heavy Industries had originally planned to use the yard as a production base for offshore wind turbines, but due to deteriorating market conditions, shipbuilding will temporarily resume. Due to the Sino-US conflict, shipbuilding orders originally placed with China have been put on hold, creating an opportunity for Japanese manufacturers. Imabari Shipbuilding will increase shipbuilding while controlling investment costs.

Imabari Shipbuilding and other companies, with the assistance of Marubeni, will outsource the hull construction of two large oil tankers ordered by a Greek shipowner to Sumitomo Heavy Industries’ subsidiary, Sumitomo Heavy Industries Marine Engineering Yokosuka Shipyard (Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture). The first vessel is expected to be completed in 2027, and the second in 2028.

Imabari Shipbuilding will purchase the steel plates and engine materials required for construction and supply them to Sumitomo Heavy Industries Marine Engineering. The majority of the hull will be manufactured at Yokosuka Shipyard, with Imabari Shipyard responsible for final assembly.

Sumitomo Heavy Industries announced in February 2024 that it would withdraw from the construction of new commercial vessels and has ceased accepting orders. Yokosuka Shipyard had originally planned to transition to offshore wind power infrastructure and related shipbuilding operations.

As construction costs rise, the operating environment for offshore wind power generation has become increasingly challenging. Sumitomo Heavy Industries has decided to temporarily continue shipbuilding operations at Yokosuka Shipyard to optimize personnel utilization.

Global shipbuilding demand is strong. In addition to replacing existing ships, the post-COVID-19 recovery in the shipping market has created an urgent need for new shipbuilding. China, with its lower construction costs, accounts for 70% of global new orders. However, the Trump administration’s tightening of port restrictions on Chinese-made ships has led shipping companies to reduce orders from Chinese manufacturers.

Japanese companies face a challenge: insufficient construction capacity. Their current backlog of orders is equivalent to approximately three years of production capacity.