Top Shipbuilding Companies in the World

Shipbuilding is a foundational industry for global trade, energy logistics, defense, and industrial capacity. The vessels these companies deliver — from ultra-large container ships and LNG carriers to high-complexity naval combatants and offshore energy platforms — are the backbone of global trade and commerce.

Here are the world’s top ten shipbuilding companies based on orderbook scale, technological leadership, diversified portfolio, and strategic relevance. It explains why each company matters, what segments they lead, and how they are shaping the future of maritime construction.

China State Shipbuilding Corporation is the undisputed giant of the global shipbuilding industry. By orderbook size alone, CSSC regularly accounts for close to one-fifth of all ships under construction worldwide. No other company — or even country — comes close to matching its scale.

CSSC operates a vast network of shipyards spread across China’s coastline. These yards produce everything from ultra-large container ships and bulk carriers to tankers, LNG carriers, and advanced naval vessels. The company benefits from China’s deeply integrated industrial ecosystem, where steelmakers, engine manufacturers, design institutes, and electronics suppliers operate in close coordination.

What sets CSSC apart is not just volume, but strategic backing. Shipbuilding in China is considered a national priority, and CSSC plays a central role in supporting both commercial trade and naval modernization. From January 2025 through September 2025, China completed 38.53 million deadweight tons (DWT) of shipbuilding output, a 6.0% year-over-year increase.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, operating under HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), represents the gold standard of execution in global shipbuilding. While CSSC dominates by sheer volume, Hyundai dominates where precision, complexity, and reliability matter most.

The company is particularly strong in LNG carriers, very large container ships, and crude oil tankers — vessels that require advanced propulsion systems, strict safety compliance, and extremely tight construction tolerances. For shipowners, Hyundai’s appeal lies in one key factor: delivery certainty. Its ships are known to perform as designed, arrive on schedule, and meet increasingly stringent fuel-efficiency requirements.

Hyundai’s yards are also deeply integrated with South Korea’s broader heavy industrial base, including engines, automation systems, and marine electronics. This vertical strength gives it an advantage as the industry transitions toward alternative fuels such as LNG, methanol, and eventually ammonia.

Samsung Heavy Industries occupies a distinct position within the global shipbuilding hierarchy. While it builds conventional merchant vessels, its reputation is strongest in engineering-intensive projects where complexity is high, and margins are earned through technical expertise rather than volume.

Samsung is a global leader in LNG carriers and offshore energy infrastructure, including floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) and deepwater drillships. These projects resemble floating industrial plants more than traditional ships, combining marine engineering with process systems, power generation, and safety-critical automation.

As of 2025, Samsung Heavy Industries holds an order backlog of 132 vessels valued at approximately $28.2 billion. This backlog secures yard utilization through late 2029 and is heavily weighted toward high-value, environmentally advanced vessels, including LNG carriers, shuttle tankers, and offshore production facilities.

Formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Hanwha Ocean remains one of South Korea’s most strategically important shipbuilders. The company has a long track record in both commercial and naval shipbuilding, giving it a diversified revenue base that few competitors can match.

Hanwha Ocean is particularly strong in LNG carriers and naval platforms, including submarines and surface combatants. This dual capability matters in a world where defense budgets are rising and maritime security has regained strategic importance.

Under Hanwha’s ownership, the shipyard has invested heavily in digital shipyard technologies, automation, and production efficiency. These upgrades are aimed at improving margins and delivery timelines, both of which are critical as ship designs become more complex.

As of Q3 2025, Hanwha Ocean reported an order backlog of $31.67 billion, up from $31.43 billion in Q1 2025. The backlog is heavily concentrated in high-value vessels, with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers forming a core segment. Notably, Hanwha Ocean has 71 LNG carriers on order and is responsible for building roughly one in every four LNG carriers globally, underscoring its dominance in this technically demanding market.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is China’s most prominent privately owned shipbuilder and a major exporter of commercial vessels. Unlike state-owned peers, Yangzijiang operates with greater commercial flexibility, allowing it to respond quickly to market shifts.

Historically focused on bulk carriers and container ships, Yangzijiang has steadily upgraded its technical capabilities. It now competes for more fuel-efficient designs and environmentally compliant vessels aimed at international owners.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding maintains a strong orderbook that is fully committed through 2028. The backlog is increasingly weighted toward higher-value vessels, with containerships, LNG carriers, and gas carriers now accounting for approximately 74% of total orders, reflecting the company’s strategic shift up the value chain.

COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry occupies a unique niche, combining newbuild construction with one of the world’s largest ship repair and conversion networks. Its close relationship with COSCO’s massive shipping fleet provides valuable operational insight into vessel lifecycle needs.

Beyond building container ships, tankers, and bulk carriers, COSCO plays a major role in retrofits — including scrubber installations, fuel system conversions, and efficiency upgrades. According to reports, COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry was previously China’s second-largest shipbuilding group, but has now slipped to fourth place domestically, holding 8.8% of the country’s shipbuilding orderbook.

Imabari Shipbuilding is Japan’s largest shipbuilder and a cornerstone of the country’s shipbuilding consolidation strategy. Through its integration with Japan Marine United, Imabari aims to restore scale and competitiveness in a market increasingly dominated by China and South Korea.

Japanese shipbuilders have long been known for quality, efficiency, and lifecycle performance rather than volume. Imabari continues that tradition, focusing on fuel-efficient bulk carriers and specialized vessels.

While Japan’s overall market share has declined, Imabari remains an important counterbalance in global shipbuilding, particularly in high-quality standard designs. As of mid-2025, Imabari Shipbuilding has an order backlog that secures roughly four years of yard utilization, following the receipt of orders for 82 vessels totaling 4.2 million gross tons in fiscal year 2024.

Over the past two decades, China has become the undisputed center of global shipbuilding. Today, Chinese yards account for roughly half of global commercial shipbuilding output and an even larger share of the global order backlog. This dominance is not accidental. It is the result of sustained industrial policy, massive capital investment, and consolidation of shipyards under state-owned champions.

The United States now wants to change that.

Under the banner of “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again,” Washington has begun to frame shipbuilding as a strategic and economic priority rather than a legacy industry. The push is driven by several overlapping concerns: dependence on foreign-built ships, vulnerabilities in maritime logistics exposed during the pandemic, and rising geopolitical competition with China. Policymakers increasingly view shipbuilding not just as an industrial capability, but as a pillar of national security and supply chain resilience.

The United States is increasingly looking to collaborate with shipbuilding superpowers South Korea and Japan as it works to rebuild maritime capacity. Korean and Japanese yards offer proven expertise in high-value commercial ships, advanced naval platforms, and modern shipyard technology.