INTERVIEW: MHI Ready to Support Japan’s Shipbuilding Revival

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)–Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. President Eisaku Ito has expressed the company’s readiness to support the revival of Japan’s shipbuilding industry by taking the leadership in ship designing and development with its technological prowess. “We can contribute with our engineering,” Ito said in a recent interview, citing as an example “ships with reduced impacts on the environment.” But the company is “not considering” building large ships, Ito said. It is focusing on areas such as environmentally friendly ships and vessels for the public sector, including for defense purposes. Mitsubishi Heavy, which started as a shipbuilder, has significantly scaled back its shipbuilding business after profitability was eroded by competition from Chinese and South Korean rivals. The Japanese government plans to double the country’s annual ship construction volume by 2035 partly from the perspective of economic security. Ito said his company “can respond to (shipowners’ requests) with optimal design,” such as by switching to fuels that meet needs for decarbonization and improving the efficiency of ship operations. The company is already working to automate work at shipyards, Ito said. It will be able to make production more efficient by standardizing designs for defense-purpose and other public-sector ships, he added. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]