Japanese gas tanker giant Mitsui OSK sees difficulty buying Chinese vessels

Mitsui OSK Lines, owner of the world’s largest fleet of liquefied natural gas carriers, said it is hard to buy Chinese vessels for the time being as the US ramps up scrutiny of the Asian country’s shipbuilding industry.

“It is difficult to purchase Chinese vessels under the current circumstances, because of the port entry fees” that the US is proposing for China-built ships calling at its ports, a spokesperson for the Japanese firm said.

Earlier on Friday (May 23), the Nikkei reported Mitsui OSK was planning to shift new orders from China to South Korea. But the plans have not yet been finalised, the spokesperson told Bloomberg News.

The Japanese firm is aiming to reduce risks, according to remarks made by president and chief executive officer Takeshi Hashimoto during an interview.

“We will wait and see about new business with the Chinese,” Hashimoto said in the report, which added that Mitsui OSK will not cancel any existing contracts with Chinese yards.

Washington has issued a flurry of measures under President Donald Trump’s administration aimed at curbing China’s maritime dominance and reviving its own flagging shipbuilding industry. The moves have shaken up the global shipping market, prompting shipowners to rethink where they want their vessels to be built in the future.

South Korean shipbuilders have sensed an opportunity. Last week, major shipbuilders HD Hyundai and Hanwha Ocean offered to help the US improve its shipbuilding capacity and restore its maritime dominance. South Korean builders have an 18 per cent share of ships under construction worldwide in deadweight tonnes terms, while the Japanese have 11 per cent, according to data from Clarksons Research.

Mitsui OSK owns a fleet of 97 LNG vessels, according to a 2024 corporate presentation. It also maintains the world’s second-largest merchant fleet at 873 vessels.

Chinese shipyards make up two-thirds of the global orderbook. In January, state-run China State Shipbuilding was added to a US Department of Defense blacklist, which carries no specific penalties but discourages American firms from doing business with it. Other Chinese shipbuilders include privately-owned New Times Shipbuilding and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding. BLOOMBERG