With the large Sea Japan exhibition due to get underway in Tokyo next week, the world’s third-largest shipbuilding nation has revealed that, like its East Asian rivals, its drydocks are more or less full up through to the end of the decade. An update from the Japan Ship Exporters’ Association (JSEA) shows the nation’s yards have around three-and-a-half years’ backlog of orders, with almost three-quarters of these orders being bulk carriers. JSEA said there was “almost no availability” left through 2029. Japan was the world’s largest shipbuilding nation through to the start of this century, at which point its position was usurped first by South Korea, and then China, whereby it commands a market share of just under 10% these days. While Splash has reported repeatedly on the full-up nature of Chinese and Korean yards, the status in Japan, where most deals are done privately between local companies, has been more opaque. Asian shipyards have feasted on a supercycle of ship orders in the 2020s. By the end of the first quarter of 2026, the global shipping orderbook had hit a 17-year high, reaching 191m compensated gross tonnes – equivalent to 17% of the global fleet, the highest ratio since 2011, according to data from BIMCO. “So far during the 2020s, newbuilding contracting has been 47% higher than the average during the 2010s, driven by stronger market conditions in the larger sectors, an overall larger fleet and an increased need for fleet renewal. This has contributed to an increase in newbuilding prices and longer lead times at shipyards, with 57% of contracting so far this year expected to be delivered after 2028,” commented Filipe Gouveia, BIMCO’s shipping analysis manager, in a recent market analysis. Around 20% of all ships on order today will deliver only after more than three years from now. At the beginning of 2021, only around 5% of the global orderbook had been due for delivery beyond the following three years. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsJapan