三菱重工拟于2027财年重启玉野休止船台，为防卫省建造日本最大级补给舰

TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will restart a dormant shipbuilding line in western Japan during fiscal 2027 to build a new replenishment vessel for the Defense Ministry, part of a push to secure additional capacity amid rising ship demand.
Mitsubishi Heavy will reactivate a roughly 250-meter-long slipway at the main plant of group company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Maritime Systems in the Okayama prefecture city of Tamano. The plant has two slipways for building and repairing ships on land and two excavated dry docks. One of the slipways had been mothballed.
The plant formerly was owned by Mitsui E&S Holdings, now Mitsui E&S. Mitsubishi Heavy took over the facility in 2021 after Mitsui E&S decided to withdraw from its struggling naval ship business, allowing the plant to remain in operation.
The slipway to be reactivated has not been used since a small vessel was built there in 2024. It will be the first large vessel built at the site since Mitsubishi Heavy took over. The plant currently builds destroyers, Japan Coast Guard patrol vessels and other specialized ships.
The Japanese company will keep investment costs down by using existing cranes and other equipment. It also will work with partner companies to increase the personnel involved in shipbuilding by about 50%.
The replenishment vessel, which will transport fuel and supplies, is expected to become the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's largest such ship, surpassing the Towada and Mashu classes.
Mitsubishi Heavy has multiple naval projects underway, including building vessels equipped with Aegis combat systems at its shipyard in Nagasaki. It also won an order to build next-generation frigates for Australia, which will mark Japan's first postwar export of warships.
Japan's defense spending has climbed sharply since fiscal 2023. Tokyo also brought forward to fiscal 2025 its goal of raising defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product, a target originally set for fiscal 2027.
In April, the government lifted restrictions on exports of defense equipment with offensive capabilities. Other potential warship export deals are under consideration.
Though demand for naval vessels is growing in Japan and overseas, shipbuilding capacity remains tight. Japanese shipbuilders scaled back construction capacity for naval vessels over many years as the country's defense budget stayed flat.
Mitsubishi Heavy will increase capacity by reactivating idle facilities, but securing skilled shipbuilding workers for tasks such as design and welding remains a challenge.
Dormant facilities also are being reactivated for commercial shipbuilding. Hakodate Dock on the northern island of Hokkaido, a subsidiary of Namura Shipbuilding, has decided to reopen a commercial shipbuilding dock idled since 1993. Efforts to rebuild Japan's shipbuilding base, scaled back during the industry's prolonged downturn, are gathering momentum in both naval and commercial construction.