Jiji Press News

According to a report in JIJI Press, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries  is considering selling one of its largest shipbuilding plants in Japan to reduce costs.According to the report , the Japanese conglomerate is weighing the sale of the Koyagi plant in the southwestern city of Nagasaki to Oshima Shipbuilding Co., the third biggest shipbuilder in the country.With the sale, Mitsubishi Heavy would effectively withdraw from construction of large vessels carrying resources such as liquefied natural gas. The Koyagi plant, founded in 1972, stopped building liquefied natural gas vessels in September this year and now focuses on LPG ships.Nikkei reported that while shipbuilders in South Korea and China make moves to realign…

Japan's biggest shipbuilders Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United (JMU) have formalized their business alliance by agreeing to enter into a capital tie-up amid blockbuster mergers in South Korea and China.According to Jiji Press, with the alliance, the shipbuilders aim to strengthen their international competitiveness at a time when South Korean and Chinese rivals are going through major realignment to grow stronger.Under the basic deal Imabari Shipbuilding plans to buy a nearly 30 pct stake in JMU via a shares purchase. The duo plans to finalize the agreement within the 2019 fiscal year, ending in March 2020.The partners will establish a new company that will design, build and market commercial vessels, including tankers, cargo ships and vehicle carriers.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will provide a total of $28.3 million in syndicated loans with French bank BNP Paribas to help a major Danish shipping operator’s unit buy cargo vessels to be built by leading Japanese shipbuilder Imabari Shipbuilding, Jiji Press  reported. The state-owned JBIC aims to revive the domestic regional economies relying on the shipbuilding industry by giving financial support for vessel exports at a time when the industry faces a global slump due to oversupply, the report quoted informed sources as saying. According to the report, under the export deal brokered by Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co.…

A Chinese naval intelligence ship was spotted off Japan's Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, Jiji Press reported quoting the Defense Ministry. The vessel did not enter the country's territorial waters, Japan's Defence Ministry said, but added it is rare for a Chinese naval vessel to sail back and forth in that area near Tokyo. Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C patrol aircraft spotted a Dongdiao-class intelligence-gathering ship sailing northeast in waters outside the contiguous zone surrounding Japanese waters southeast of the peninsula around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The ministry has confirmed a Chinese military ship sailed back and forth in waters near the Boso Peninsula for the first time, officials said.

Australian Defence Minister Kevin Andrews has requested Japan to participate in procedures to become Australia's partner in a project to jointly develop next-generation submarines. Andrews made the request in a telephone conversation with Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani who responded positively, Japan's Jiji Press news agency reported. In their telephone conversation, Andrews was quoted as telling Nakatani that Australia hopes to study the feasibility of the two countries jointly developing a submarine, as Japan has the necessary technology, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported. "Australia will initiate a procedure to choose a partner for the development, and asks Japan to consider joining the procedure," the minister said.

Japan and the European Union are strengthening antipiracy cooperation in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, helping an international mission to reduce the number of attacks by pirates on commercial vessels to just two in 2014 from 174 in 2011, Japan’s Jiji Press news agency reported. The first operation took place in January 2014 when EU naval forces and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) troops teamed up to capture a pirate ship. MSDF destroyer Samidare initially received information about a commercial ship coming under attack in the Gulf of Aden. It then sent a P-3C patrol aircraft to monitor the situation while an EU naval vessel from France was dispatched to the site to arrest five pirates.