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The Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (Vinashin) recently announced it would invest VND300 billion (US$18.9 million) in the construction of a shipyard in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.
Vinashin, the country’s largest shipbuilder, said it had selected a 54 hectare site in the province’s Nam Can District for the new facility, which is to be used to build ships displacing 5,000-10,000 tonnes, the average size of its current fleet.
Up to 4,000 employees will work at the new shipyard once it is operational in 2008, and the State-owned company is already working with provincial authorities to train local workers.
Vinashin said its latest project was part of its plan to increase local content in shipbuilding to 65 per cent by 2010, which would require investment of about VND10 trillion (US$633 million). The company is to focus on producing rolled steel for ship hulls, 300 to 30,000 horsepower diesel engines, steering systems and onboard cranes, it said.
These projects would increase the localisation rate from the current 25 per cent, with locally-made steel accounting for 26 per cent of average total dead weight tonnage, and engine and steering systems accounting for about 23 and 6 per cent, respectively.
Vinashin last year invested VND1.7 trillion ($107 million) in projects in the northern coastal province of Nam Dinh as part of its localisation plan, which will make the province the country’s third-largest shipbuilding centre after Hai Phong and Quang Ninh by 2010, it said. Vinashin said its largest individual project would be the Xuan Chau Shipbuilding Complex, with investment expected to exceed VND800 billion.
Vinashin last year earned VND7.8 trillion ($491 million) from building cargo vessels for domestic and foreign companies, a 41 per cent increase from 2004. Most of the contracts were signed with international shipbuilding firms using technology from the UK, Denmark and Poland.
Vinashin, which recently launched a 13,000-tonne oil tanker, is to begin construction this July on the largest oil tanker ever built in the country, a 100,000 tanker commissioned by the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam).
The recent spate of capacity building means Vinashin will soon be able to build 80,000-tonne cargo ships and 300,000-tonne oil tankers by 2010, it said.
As of January of 2006, the corporation had secured contracts worth a combined $2 billion, and targets $1 billion revenue this year, up from last year’s $690 million, it said. Vinashin and its 20 subsidiaries have made Viet Nam the world’s 11th-largest shipbuilder.
Vietnamnews - (25/04/2006)
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