Giant Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has estimated a rise in overall earnings for 2011.
But shipbuilding remains in the doldrums.
Orders signed in the first half of 2011 amounted to JPY 24.8Bn ($317.5m).
This compares with JPY 46.2bn for the same period in 2010.
The group delivered 14 ships in this timeframe, a similar figure to 2010.
But because of the strong yen and increased production costs, the sector's earnings dropped into the red with a loss of JPY 1bn for the first half of the year.
Its
