Japanese export ship orders sank at their fastest pace in 17 years in fiscal 2009, which ended on March 31, due to ship owners' flagging demand for new vessels, according to figures released by the Japan Ship Exporters' Association.

Japan, one of the world's top shipbuilding nations along with South Korea and China, received orders for export ships totaling 6,340,591 gross tons in fiscal 2009, down a whopping 56.5 percent from the previous fiscal year.

It was the largest annual rate of decline since fiscal 1992, when Japanese export ship orders plunged 63.1 percent following the burst of the so-called "bubble economy." The fiscal 2009 decline followed a drop of 46.8 percent in fiscal 2008.

The fiscal 2009 gross tonnage was also the lowest since fiscal 1992, when Japan received orders for export ships totaling 2,671,030 gross tons.

Japanese shipbuilders received orders for 119 export ships in fiscal 2009, the smallest number since fiscal 1992, when they received orders for 77 export ships.

A recovery began toward the end of the fiscal year. Japanese export ship orders rose for the fourth consecutive month in March after falling for 14 months in a row on a year-on-year basis.

In March, Japan received orders for export ships totaling 928,021 gross tons, up a robust 69.4 percent from the same month of last year. The robust growth figures for the recent four months compare with extremely low year-earlier levels.

Japan, the world's second-largest economy, started providing official financial support recently to shore up slumping vessel exports, through the government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation, one of the world's biggest international financial institutions.

Source: JOC