In an industry awash with surplus capacity, Japan has been the only country brave enough to build a brand-new shipbuilding facility since the 2008 financial crash.
In September, Imabari Shipbuilding opened an ultra large containership dock at Marugame, built at an estimated cost of around $400m. The facility is one of the biggest and most modern in Asia.
The move was viewed as a sign of the confidence in Japan’s privately owned shipbuilders, who continue to grow despite the worst market conditions in decades and strong price and cost competition from South Korea and China.
