BIMCO: Japan is world's third largest shipping nation as owners control 12 per cent of the fleet

The second largest shipping city in the country is neither Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo nor Kobe. Instead, it is Imabari, a city in Ehime prefecture with a population of only 152,000. The city is home to 112 shipowners that combined own one third of the Japanese fleet.

BIMCO said 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.