Japan is set to build its first major shipbuilding dock in nearly a decade, marking a concrete step toward the government’s ambitious drive to revive the country’s shipbuilding industry and strengthen its global competitiveness.
Namura Shipbuilding is moving ahead with plans for a new large construction dock, the first such major facility to be developed in Japan since Imabari Shipbuilding completed its giant 610 m dock at Marugame in 2017.
The investment comes as prime minister Sanae Takaichi places shipbuilding at the heart of her new industrial growth strategy, seeking to arrest decades of declining Japanese market share and rebuild domestic capacity.
Tokyo has set a target of doubling annual shipbuilding capacity to 18m gt by 2035, with around Y1trn ($6.8bn) of public and private investment envisaged over the coming decade. A shipbuilding revitalisation fund is being used to support dock expansion, cranes, automation, robotics and other productivity-enhancing equipment.
Takaichi has identified shipbuilding as one of 17 strategic growth sectors, describing increased domestic investment as central to strengthening both Japan’s economy and economic security. Her government is also promoting regional shipbuilding clusters, including new dock infrastructure.
Namura’s main Imari yard in Saga prefecture already operates a 450 m by 70 m construction dock using a semi-tandem building system. The company has been investing heavily to improve the yard’s ability to handle larger and increasingly complex vessels.
Earlier this year Namura began another upgrade programme at Imari aimed at improving the efficiency of constructing zero-emission and environmentally friendly ships. The work, supported by government funding and scheduled to run through fiscal 2028, is expected to lift production capacity by around 20%.
Japan dominated world shipbuilding during the second half of the 20th century before losing ground first to South Korea and then China. The latest investments mark the clearest attempt in years to reverse that retreat, with Tokyo increasingly viewing shipbuilding capacity as strategic national infrastructure rather than simply another manufacturing industry.
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