NYK Line has joined six Japanese shipping and shipbuilding groups in investing in MILES to centralise development and basic design work for next-generation vessels including liquefied CO2 carriers and ammonia-fuelled ships, according to NYK Line.
The framework brings together NYK, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Mitsui OSK Lines, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, Imabari Shipbuilding, Japan Marine United and Nihon Shipyard to create a standard design scheme for Japanese yards.
MILES, formerly MI LNG Co, is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Imabari Shipbuilding. It will serve as the core platform for common basic designs that can be used across domestic shipyards.
The plan targets a shortage and fragmentation of design capacity in Japan’s shipbuilding sector. NYK said LCO2 carriers and new-fuel vessels require far more development and design work than conventional merchant ships, making standardised basic design a way to reduce duplication.
NYK president Takaya Soga said Japanese yards need to strengthen their competitiveness. “I want Japanese shipyards to further enhance their competitiveness,” he said.
The companies are also looking at common specifications. “If standardisation makes it possible for multiple shipyards to build the same type of vessel and for multiple shipping companies to use them, it will help improve efficiency and address labour shortages and longer construction periods,” Soga said.
Japan set out support measures for shipbuilding in 2025, with a target of restoring construction capacity to 18m gt by 2035 and public-private investment of about ¥1trn. The industry has also set a target of taking the world’s top share in next-generation ships by 2030.
NYK chairman Hitoshi Nagasawa said: “It is the responsibility of those of us here now to restore the Japanese maritime cluster as an attractive industry and pass it on to the future.”
NYK Line, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Mitsui OSK Lines are Japanese shipping companies. Mitsubishi Shipbuilding is a shipbuilding company within the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries group. Imabari Shipbuilding is a Japanese shipbuilder. Japan Marine United is a Japanese shipbuilder. Nihon Shipyard is a Japanese ship design and sales company. MILES is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Imabari Shipbuilding.