Japan imported 38 shipping vessels in June this year, up 72pc compared with 22 ships imported in the same month in 2019, according to Japan Ship Exporter’s Association.
The association’s data released on Wednesday shows that new orders last month included one general cargo vessel, five bulk carriers, and two tankers with a capacity of 118,872mt, 136,352mt, and 92,152mt, respectively, totaling 347,675mt of total carrying capacity.
For the first half of 2020, imported vessels tallied at 166 units, an increase of 25pc from 132 units in the prior-year period. This included three general cargos, 137 bulk carriers, and 26 tankers with a total shipping capacity of almost 7mn mt.
Japan has a backlog of 320 orders of the total 399 orders placed in 2019. Around 157 orders from this backlog are expected to be delivered by the end of this year.