Secretary of the Navy John Phelan speaks to Capt. Tim Waits, commander of the USS George Washington, in the carrier's hangar bay, on April 28, 2025. (Roselia Garcia/U.S. Navy)

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, on his first trip abroad since taking office last month, is seeking deeper cooperation from Japanese shipyards as he advances shipbuilding as a priority for the service.

Phelan touched down Monday in Tokyo, where exploring options for joint ship repair and shipbuilding ventures with Japanese shipyards topped his agenda, he told Stars and Stripes aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington that evening.

“One of my main priorities is readiness, and so being able to repair ships here obviously improves readiness,” he said.

Earlier, Phelan toured Japan Marine United’s Isogo Works shipyard in Yokohama and met with top Japanese defense officials, including Defense Minster Gen Nakatani, to discuss the U.S.-Japan alliance and potential joint ventures.

“I think they’re very interested in trying to expand that relation from repair and maintenance — and potentially others — but I think, again, we have constraints when it comes to what we can and can’t do with shipbuilding [in Japan]” he said.

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan speaks to Command Master Chief Antonio Roberts in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on April 28, 2025. (Tyler Crowley/U.S. Navy)

Phelan said he encouraged Japanese officials to consider investing in U.S.-based joint ventures. He pointed to South Korean company Hanwha Ocean’s acquisition of the Philly Shipyard as an example of foreign investment that Japan could emulate.

China’s rapid expansion of its naval shipbuilding capacity presents a serious challenge to the U.S. Navy’s ability to project power in the Indo-Pacific, according to a March report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. China, identified by the Defense Department as its “pacing challenge” in the region, has 230 times the shipyard capacity of the United States, according to an August report by the Congressional Research Service.

During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Service Committee, Phelan emphasized the need to learn from foreign allies and rebuild U.S. shipbuilding infrastructure.

Phelan on Monday dismissed a Nikkei Asia report that he would pitch the idea of producing “dual-use” commercial ships in Japan that could be converted to military use during a crisis — a strategy employed by China’s Maritime Militia.

“What I said was I was impressed by how China had used commercial ships, and they can adapt to military [use] very quickly,” he told Stars and Stripes. “And that was something that we needed to be looking at ourselves and thinking about from the commercial ship building side.”

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan salutes as he boards the aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on April 28, 2025. (August Clawson/U.S. Navy)

In addition to shipbuilding, Phelan said he also arrived in Japan with another priority: improving the quality of life for U.S. sailors.

“At the end of the day, you need sailors — it’s not just weapons systems and equipment,” he said. “You need sailors, and they need to have a good life in their families. It’s what we owe them.”

Phelan listed housing, food quality, lengthy deployment schedules and mental health services as his top concerns.

“All these things have cascading effects that we have to keep an eye on,” he said.

Phelan is scheduled to travel next to South Korea to reaffirm the U.S.-Korea alliance and visit shipyards.