Namura Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.

At a press conference after the Cabinet meeting on the 4th, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Yasuyuki Kaneko announced that the ministry has decided to support capital investment for Imabari Shipbuilding, its subsidiary Japan Marine United (JMU), and Namura Shipbuilding, aiming to double domestic shipbuilding capacity. This is the first round of government support for the revitalization of the shipbuilding industry, and over the next 10 years, a total of 600 billion yen will be invested by the public and private sectors combined. From the Ministry's shipbuilding revitalization fund, up to 213.1 billion yen will be provided to the three companies, with up to 113.8 billion yen in subsidies to Imabari Shipbuilding and its group company Tadotsu Shipbuilding, 49.4 billion yen to JMU, and 49.9 billion yen to Namura Shipbuilding and its group company Hakodate Dock. Through these capital investments, the plan is to increase the three companies' building capacity to 1.5 times their current level.

It was learned on the 20th that Namura Shipbuilding is considering building a new large dock at Imari Bay in Saga Prefecture by 2035. This would be the first new large dock in Japan since Imabari Shipbuilding's Marugame headquarters in Kagawa Prefecture in 2017. Shipbuilding is one of 17 strategic sectors designated by the Ishiba administration as priority investment targets. Namura Shipbuilding plans to participate in a public-private investment plan for liquefied natural gas carriers, construction of which had ceased, and will use the new dock.