Kawasaki Heavy Industries' shipbuilding venture in China will delay operations of a second dock in Dalian by three years in the light of the current economic climate. The second dock, originally slated for operations in early 2012, may be postponed until 2015, said Yusuke Kamada, a spokesman at Kobe, Japan-based Kawasaki. The Dalian yard is being funded by the Kawasaki group and China Ocean Shipping Group Co (Cosco).
"We haven't got a single order" for new ships since the fourth quarter, Tomokazu Taniguchi, the president of Kawasaki's shipbuilding unit, said. Taniguchi forecasts ship orders would fall by more than half this fiscal year, instead of an April target for a 54% increase to 110 billion yen ($1.1 billion).
Orders from Japanese shipyards, the world's second-largest by output, tumbled 90% in May, and have fallen 81% since the beginning of this year, according to the Japan Ship Exporters' Association.
Construction of the first and second docks in Dalian, northeastern China, will be completed around May 2010, Kamada said. The shipyard will have the capacity to produce 10 VLCCs a year after the second dock is completed, Taniguchi said. Kawasaki's 50-50 venture with Cosco, called Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering Co., or Nacks, was created in 1995. The capacity of Nacks' docks in Nantong, eastern China, has already surpassed Kawasaki's main yard in Sakaide, Japan, Taniguchi said. The existing Chinese yard can also build 10 VLCCs annually.
The new production site in Dalian will build VLCCs and iron ore carriers while Kawasaki will continue to focus on LNG tankers at its Japanese docks.
Source: The Motor Ship
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