Japanese shipowners and shipyards may benefit from newly announced U.S. port fees on Chinese-built and owned vessels.

BIMCO Chief Shipping Analyst Niels Rasmussen recently analysed the size of Japan's fleet and the potential impact of the new U.S. policy.

"Combined, Japanese shipowners currently own 12% of the global fleet's deadweight tonnes capacity (DWT). This makes Japan the third largest shipowning country in the world and one of only three countries where shipowners control more than 10% of the global fleet's DWT capacity," Rasmussen of BIMCO, one of the largest of the international shipping associations representing shipowners, said.

He said the global fleet, totalling 2.4 trillion DWT, is owned by 16,622 shipowners across 178 countries. Of those, 604 owners are based in Japan, with fleets ranging from 115 DWT to 28.6 million DWT.

The BIMCO analysis noted that during Japan's post-war economic boom, the country's international trade expanded in tandem with its growing economy.

Measured in U.S. dollars, Japan ranked as the world's third-largest merchandise exporter for three decades, from the early 1970s to the early 2000s. Exports peaked at 10% of global trade in 1986.

It added that for much of the same period, Japan was also the third-largest merchandise importer, with imports reaching 7% of global trade in 1974.

"While Japan's exports and imports share of global merchandise trade have both fallen to 3%, the size of the fleet has remained strong," said Rasmussen.

He noted that the three co-owners of Ocean Network Express (ONE) may be the most well-known Japanese shipping companies.

"Indeed, MOL, NYK Line and K Line remain the largest of the Tokyo-based shipowners. Combined with other Tokyo shipowners, they own 48% of the Japanese fleet, making Tokyo the fourth-largest shipping city in the world," the BIMCO chief shipping analyst added.

The second-largest shipping city in the country is neither Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, nor Kobe. Instead, BIMCO noted that it is Imabari, a city in the Ehime prefecture with a population of only 152,000.

BIMCO said the city is home to 112 shipowners that combined own one-third of the Japanese fleet. That not only makes Imabari the second-largest shipping city in the country, but also the sixth-largest shipping city in the world, only slightly behind Singapore in the number five spot.

Rasmussen noted that, like their compatriots in Tokyo, Imabari-based companies such as Nissen Kaiun KK, Shoei KK and Mizuho Sangyo own a large share of the world's bulk and container fleet but are less involved in the tanker sector.

Meanwhile, Tokyo-based owners lead Japan's gas tanker sector, the largest fleet of its kind in the world.

"The Japanese-owned fleet has grown only marginally during the past ten years, and the gap to the fleets of China and Greece has widened," said Rasmussen.

"However, Japan remains critical to the shipping industry, and its shipowners and shipyards could stand to benefit from the fees that the US will apply on Chinese-owned and Chinese-built ships," he added.