Namura Shipbuilding is fully merging with Imari Steel Center to strengthen production control and increase efficiency in shipbuilding operations. This merger, which has been approved by the company, is set to take effect on April 1, 2027, and the Imari Center will be dissolved as an independent unit.
Purpose of the Merger and Its Benefits
The Imari Steel Center is located adjacent to Namura's main yard in Saga Prefecture and is responsible for upstream steel activities, including unloading, sorting, storage, processing, and quality assurance of shipbuilding plates. By combining these operations, Namura hopes to accelerate decision-making, enable better allocation of human resources and other resources, and also increase production efficiency. These measures are particularly important for increasing the production of new ships in the near future.
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Expansion of Shipbuilding Capacity
These internal changes are taking place alongside one of the largest efforts to increase capacity in recent years. The Japanese Ministry of Transport last month approved government funding of up to 49.9 billion yen (approximately 319 million dollars) for an investment program that includes Namura and its subsidiary, Kodate Docks. This action is part of broader efforts by Tokyo to rebuild the country's domestic shipbuilding capacity.
Namura Company is also progressing in the construction of a new large dock, which will be the first large shipbuilding dock in Japan since the completion of the Marugame facilities by Imabari Shipbuilding in 2017. The Imari yard currently has a dock measuring 450 meters by 70 meters and is undergoing additional improvements to increase capacity and enhance the construction of next-generation ships.
Namura's yard continues to fill its order book. In August, it was reported that Greek owner, DryDel Shipping, signed five-year lease contracts with K Line for four new ships weighing 182,000 tons DWT that are under construction at Namura. These four ships are set to be launched in 2028 and 2029.
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