After several years of suspension, the former Japanese shipbuilding giant—Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding’s Chiba Works has finally found a new buyer. This large shipyard, which once built VLCCs, will transform into a comprehensive marine engineering base integrating ship dismantling, offshore maintenance, and offshore wind power equipment operations.
According to Japanese media reports, metal scrap recycling company—Kishimoto Metal has acquired the former Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding Chiba Works site, including three dry docks, covering a total area of 22 square meters, planning to use it as a ship dismantling base and an offshore wind power equipment operation base. The transaction was completed at the end of March, but the specific amount has not been disclosed.
The Chiba Works is one of the few large shipyards in Japan. Since its commissioning in 1962, it has built various types of vessels including Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) and large bulk carriers. The Chiba Works delivered its last ship in 2021, after which the dock was temporarily used as a port, and Mitsui E&S had been studying the subsequent use of the dock.
Kishimoto Metal aims to utilize the docks at the Chiba Works to carry out large-scale marine engineering projects such as the assembly, dismantling, and repair of floating offshore wind power equipment, large vessels, and marine structures. Currently, there are very limited sites in Japan capable of undertaking such projects.
Kishimoto Metal’s main business involves processing metal scrap generated from construction and demolition projects, and selling it to domestic Japanese steel companies and overseas markets. The company owns one of Japan’s largest processing bases equipped with port facilities in Chiba City, capable of receiving large structures directly by sea without the need for cutting or land transportation.
Leveraging its previous experience and capabilities in scrap export business, Kishimoto Metal will use the Chiba Works site for ship dismantling work, responding to the new demand brought about by the entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention. Kishimoto Metal President Koji Miyaguchi pointed out that Japan currently faces a severe shortage of docks for repair and inspection.
The Hong Kong Convention, effective from June 2025, stipulates that international vessels with a gross tonnage exceeding 500 tons can only be dismantled at facilities certified by respective governments. Currently, Japan still mainly relies on overseas markets with lower dismantling costs. In the future, domestic demand for ship dismantling in Japan is expected to expand, and the newly acquired Chiba Works is poised to become an important platform to meet this demand.
Furthermore, the Chiba Works can also serve as a site for the assembly and dismantling of large marine civil engineering structures—such as gantry cranes, wharves, and the “caissons” forming the foundation of breakwaters. It is also being considered as a construction base for offshore wind power equipment.
Kishimoto Metal plans to lease the docks at the Chiba Works to companies with relevant needs. It has already received dozens of inquiries regarding usage, with the possibility of commencing operations within the year. The company anticipates that potential lessees for the docks include major general construction companies and marine engineering firms, which highly overlap with its existing customer base, facilitating synergistic business development. Additionally, scrap materials generated during the dock dismantling process are expected to be reused in the company’s main business.
It is understood that the Chiba Works was originally one of the main shipyards under Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding. The predecessor of Mitsui E&S, Mitsui Shipbuilding, was founded in 1917, initially as the shipbuilding department of Mitsui & Co. After being spun off as an independent entity in 1937, it was renamed Mitsui Shipbuilding in 1942. Following World War II, Mitsui Shipbuilding diversified into engineering businesses. According to data from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, in 2000, Mitsui Shipbuilding’s vessel construction volume ranked second in Japan,仅次于 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
However, since 2000, with the rise of the shipbuilding industries in China and South Korea, the global market share of Japan’s shipbuilding industry has continuously shrunk, and Mitsui Shipbuilding’s profitability increasingly deteriorated. In 2018, Mitsui Shipbuilding was renamed Mitsui E&S Holdings, transforming into a pure holding company, while the shipbuilding business was split into an independent subsidiary, Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding.
In early 2020, Mitsui E&S Holdings announced it would completely end the merchant shipbuilding business at the Chiba Works by the end of March 2021, consolidating it into the Tamano Shipyard and the joint venture shipyard with Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group in China, Yangzijiang Mitsui Shipbuilding. In March 2021, the Chiba Works completed the delivery of its final new vessel.
In June 2020, Mitsui E&S Holdings sold the naval vessel business of the Tamano Shipyard to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The Tamano Shipyard ultimately delivered its last merchant vessel under construction in July 2021. In October of the same year, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries integrated the naval vessel and government vessel construction business of the Tamano Shipyard, establishing Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Maritime Systems Co., Ltd., specializing in building naval vessels and government service vessels for Japanese government agencies.
Starting in 2021, Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding established a capital alliance with Tsuneishi Shipbuilding, after which Tsuneishi Shipbuilding gradually increased its stake in Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding. In June last year, Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding became a wholly owned subsidiary of Tsuneishi Shipbuilding and was renamed TSUNEISHI SOLUTIONS TOKYOBAY Co., Ltd., with main businesses including design engineering services, ship equipment, new fuel and gas-related equipment engineering, maneuvering systems, digitalization and monitoring, and technical support.
Through this transaction, Mitsui E&S Holdings has completely withdrawn from the shipbuilding business, considered its “ancestral business,” focusing on the fields of marine engines and port cranes.
