Japanese shipbuilding capacity has not been affected by the newbuilding downturn, claims Michikazu Sebe, executive managing director of the Shipbuilders' Association of Japan.

“Unlike South Korea and China, Japan did not expand much of its [shipbuilding] capacity during the good market,” Sebe says.

“Our shipyards were working to receive valuable contracts and improving relationships with shipowners and operators.”Financial crash

2008 financial crisis

Sebe says the large orderbook that Japanese yards secured before the 2008 financial crisis allowed its yards to continue production when it hit.

“They [the Chinese and South Koreans] signed shipbuilding contracts with non-traditional shipping companies and when the market crashed, a lot of the deals were cancelled. Over in Japan, we experienced few cancellations.”

Sebe says Japan learned not to grow its capacity too fast when the 1970s oil crisis led to made widespread cuts. At the time, Japan accounted for more than 50% of global shipbuilding production.