Usuki Shipyard

Usuki Shipyard Co., Ltd. (株式会社臼杵造船所) is a Japanese newbuilding yard founded in 1988 at Usuki, Oita Prefecture, taking over the facilities, technology and workforce of Usuki Iron Works. Its main product is chemical tankers of roughly 8,900–20,800 DWT, including duplex stainless steel cargo tank designs, and it has also delivered ferries, coastal clean/dirty oil and product tankers, LPG carriers, car carriers, RO/RO and general cargo ships and reefer vessels. The yard builds about five to six ships a year with around 155 employees plus some 350 partner-company staff, and also runs a steel structure division. It is majority owned by Fukuoka Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and maintains a Tokyo office.

Usuki Shipyard Co., Ltd. (株式会社臼杵造船所) was established in August 1988, inheriting the facilities, technology and people of Usuki Iron Works, and operates a single-berth newbuilding yard in Usuki City, Oita Prefecture. Around 155 employees and approximately 350 partner-company personnel build five to six vessels per year, with chemical tankers as the core product. The company describes itself as a "glocal" builder, sending ships from Usuki to owners worldwide, and is majority owned by Fukuoka Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (since 2018).

Services

Construction and repair of ships and naval craft
Steel structures and machinery installation (specified construction business licence, Oita Prefecture)
Civil engineering, construction and steel fabrication; cranes and cargo-handling machinery; high-pressure vessel design and manufacture
In-house design division using NAPA ship design tools, 3D hull CAD/CAM (GRADE/HULL) and the kan navi 3D outfitting system; work toward a shipbuilding digital twin
Research and development, including duplex stainless steel chemical tanker design and the trademarked FUNECS hull series for environmental regulations

Facilities

No.1 building berth: 9,200 G/T capacity, 139 m x 24 m (semi-dock type)
Jib cranes of 150 T, 60 T, 30 T and 20 T, plus a 47 T fixed jib crane and numerous overhead and gantry cranes
Two NC oxygen/plasma cutting machines, section steel marking robot line, three blasting rooms, ram-type hydraulic press
ISO 9001 quality management certification obtained via ClassNK (2005); Japan Defense Agency "Class A" shipbuilding qualification (1993)

Vessel Types

Chemical tankers (Type II & III), roughly 4,000–20,800 DWT, including all-duplex stainless steel cargo tank designs
Oil, product and clean/dirty oil tankers, plus specialised ships such as molten naphthalene and concentrated sulfuric acid carriers
Ferries and car ferries up to about 1,800 G/T, including twin-skeg (split stern) high-speed hull forms
LPG carriers, pure car carriers, RO/RO, LO/LO, bulk and general cargo ships, reefer vessels

Location

Head office and shipyard: 1-12 Itachiya, Usuki City, Oita Prefecture, Japan (about 3 minutes' walk from JR Usuki Station)
Tokyo office: ACN Kyobashi Building 802, 2-12-9 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo