Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) may spin off its shipbuilding operations due to weak demand.
A spokesperson told Bloomberg that it could then seek local partnerships.
A decision on the plan could be announced in July, he added.
He was responding to a report on the matter from the Nikkei daily.
The yard is already limiting cruiseship production after racking up a $2.3bn loss on two 125,000-gt cruiseships it built for AIDA Cruises.
It
