Ship Building and Repairing Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the ship building and repairing market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global ship building and repairing market reached a value of nearly $240.93 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $240.93 billion in 2023 to $333.38 billion in 2028 at a rate of 6.7%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2028 and reach $463.83 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from increased demand for maritime transport, rising investments for port construction and facilities, growth in the cruise industry or maritime tourism and growing focus on reducing emissions and environmental impact. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period include high cost associated with ship repair and maintenance services and volatile raw material prices.

Going forward, the increase in the aging fleet of vessels, increase in global trade volume, expansion of the e-commerce industry, strong economic growth in emerging markets and favorable government initiatives will drive the market. Factors that could hinder the growth of the ship building and repairing market in the future include political instability or conflicts and imposition of trade barriers.

The ship building and repairing market is segmented by type into ship building and ship repairing. The ship building market was the largest segment of the ship building and repairing market segmented by type, accounting for 85.2% or $205.17 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the ship repairing segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the ship building and repairing market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 8.8% during 2023-2028.

The ship building and repairing market is segmented by type of vessel into tankers, bulkers, containerships, cruise and ferry and other type of vessels. The bulkers market was the largest segment of the ship building and repairing market segmented by type of vessel, accounting for 37.4% or $90.16 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the cruise and ferry segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the ship building and repairing market segmented by type of vessel, at a CAGR of 6.8% during 2023-2028.

The ship building and repairing market is segmented by end-user into passenger transportation and goods transportation. The goods transportation market was the largest segment of the ship building and repairing market segmented by end-user, accounting for 93.8% or $226.07 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the passenger transportation segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the ship building and repairing market segmented by end-user, at a CAGR of 6.8% during 2023-2028.

Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the ship building and repairing market, accounting for 49% or $118.12 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Western Europe, North America and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the ship building and repairing market will be the Middle East and South America, where growth will be at CAGRs of 19.7% and 19% respectively. These will be followed by Africa and Western Europe, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 15.3% and 8.3% respectively.

The global ship building and repairing market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of small players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 17.19% of the total market in 2023. China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) was the largest competitor with a 3.91% share of the market, followed by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) with 2.58%, COSCO Shipyard Group with 2.42%, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) with 2.08%, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) with 1.91%, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) with 1.54%, BAE Systems Maritime with 1%, Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) Co. Ltd. with 0.67%, Fincantieri with 0.54% and China Shipbuilding Group (CSG) with 0.54%.

The top opportunities in the ship building and repairing market segmented by type will arise in the ship building segment, which will gain $73.8 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the ship building and repairing market by type of vessel will arise in the bulkers segment, which will gain $33.68 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the ship building and repairing market by end-user will arise in the goods transportation segment, which will gain $86.63 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The ship building and repairing market size will gain the most in China at $16.14 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the ship building and repairing market include focus on introduction of climate-friendly transportation solution for sustainable shipping technologies, robotics in shipyard operations for boosting efficiency and safety, strategic partnerships and collaborations among major players, leveraging digital twin technology for reduced downtime and effective maintenance, integration of AI in shipbuilding and repair for ship navigation and collision avoidance, launch of solar and wind powered ships to lower emission and fuel consumption, implementing internet of things (IoT) technology for real-time detection and monitoring of ships and increased focus on battery-hybrid ships.

Player-adopted strategies in the ship building and repairing market include focus on expanding influence and market share in the global shipbuilding industry by forming strategic partnerships to revitalize and develop commercial shipbuilding capabilities in key regions, strategic partnerships to expand market presence and leverage local expertise for government contracts and expand and enhance maritime operation and innovation in clean energy and digitalization to enhance marine vessel efficiency and environmental sustainability.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the ship building and repairing companies to focus on climate-friendly transportation solutions, focus on robotics integration for ship building efficiency, focus on digital twin integration for ship building innovation, focus on artificial intelligence integration for maritime advancement, focus on solar and wind powered ships for environmental sustainability, focus on IOT integration for real-time ship monitoring, focus on battery-hybrid ships for sustainable growth, focus on the fast-growing ship repairing market segment, focus on strategic partnerships and collaborations, focus on expanding in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, provide competitively priced offerings, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions and focus on targeting goods transportation end-user segment.