Japan’s two largest shipbuilders, Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United, will postpone their plan to establish a joint venture due to prolonged legal procedures partly due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The two shipbuilders announced the formation of the joint venture Nihon Shipyard in late March and planned to launch the joint venture on October 1.
However, the two yards are still waiting for approvals from overseas competition authorities regarding the merger and the launch of the the new entity has been rescheduled to November 1.
Currently the merger between two major yards in neighbouring South Korea is also being held up by regulators. Hyundai Heavy Industries’ (HHI) planned merger with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) is facing extended screening by European anti-trust authorities. Reuters reported that HHI is now discussing concessions with EU regulators to allay theirs concerns over the merger with DSME.
The East Asian shipbuilding map has been radically redrawn over the last 18 months with the emergence of super yard groups. In China, after 20 years apart, the nation’s two state-run shipbuilding groups, CSIC and CSSC, have come back together.
