TSUNEISHI Shipbuilding announced it has completed the 100% acquisition of domestic rival Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding, after renaming the latter to Tsuneishi Solutions Tokyobay.

The two companies entered a capital alliance in 2021 to enhance cost competitiveness and technological capabilities.

At the end of May, Mitsui E&S Holdings said it would exit shipbuilding by selling its remaining 34% stake in Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding to Tsuneishi for about $28.8m.

“In light of the need for further integration to ensure sustainable growth and enhanced competitiveness in the future, Tsuneishi Shipbuilding has decided to proceed with the full acquisition,” the company said.

According to Clarksons data, Tsuneishi is ranked as the world’s 14th largest shipbuilding group with an orderbook of 119 vessels totalling 2.3m cgt as of early June.

Imabari Shipbuilding, Japan’s largest player in the sector, is ranked 11th with 158 ships of 4.3m cgt on order.

However, it recently agreed to make Japan Marine United a 60%-owned subsidiary. If successful, its ranking would improve to 9th place, with an orderbook of 6m cgt. Higher spots are dominated by Chinese and South Korean firms.

The tie-ups come as Tokyo reportedly presented Washington last month with the “Japan-US Golden Age of Shipbuilding Plan”, followed by an emergency proposal by Japan’s ruling party to the government for a ¥1trn ($6.9bn) state fund to revive domestic shipyards.

The US is seeking support from allies to counter China’s dominance in shipbuilding and restore its own capacity.

Notably, Tsuneishi also has shipbuilding facilities in China. Last year, it sold a 34% stake in Tsuneishi Group (Zhoushan) Shipbuilding to China’s Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.

Japanese yards hold only about 8% of global orderbooks by cgt, significantly trailing China’s 59% and South Korea’s roughly 22%.