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Japan's six biggest shipbuilders launched 97 newbuildings of 6.08 million
grt in 2004, up 16.8% from the previous year in tonnage terms.
The tonnage figure is the largest annual total in the past 10 years,
surpassing the previous record of 5.84 million grt registered in 1999.
This reflected the fact that the shipbuilders began the construction of
large-size vessels, such as VLCCs, on a full-scale basis and that the number
of newbuildings they built increased as a result of their efforts to cut the
per-ship construction period. |
