Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) enters the luxury European cruiseferry market as part of the restructuring of company's shipbuilding business.
The subsidiary company Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co is due to expand production facilities at a couple of shipyards in Nagasaki and Shimonoseki (both in western Japan) in order to prepare for orders from Europe, according to President Koji Okura.
While Mitsubishi has begun marketing operations in Europe, the company is also considering targeting Asian luxury cruiseferry market in the near future, Okura shared.
As demand in Europe is growing for various types of ferries, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding intends to focus on ferries with luxury interiors which carry passengers and vehicles.
Mitsubishi Group plans to start building ferries in Nagasaki, Japan by the end of March 2021. Currently, the group builds liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships at the shipyard.
MHI is also aiming to boost sales in shipbuilding business to 200 billion yen (USD 1,8 billion) over the next decade, which is up from around 100 billion yen in the last fiscal year (ended March 2018).