Vinashin is a newcomer to the international shipbuilding arena. Based on its vision, this Vietnamese group intends to become an important player in it.
It is not only the vision of its new head office that stretches sky. So does its vision of new activities too.
Vinashin (Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation) signed its first export contract in 2000. Four years later, its most important breakthrough was when Graig Shipping of Wales ordered a long series of new, unique, double-hull bulk carriers. The first two were delivered earlier this summer.
Pham Thu Hang, the director of business and international relations in Vinashin, is proud of what has been achieved, but she is also grateful to those that have cooperated with the company. She says: “We, as a new shipbuilding group with limited experience, have been eager to learn all the way through from before the keel laying to after delivery. Graig Shipping has been patient, and our collaboration has been good, despite the original plans having to be postponed and this being our most challenging project to date, both in size and complexity.”
“The third pillar in this model of cooperation has been class, – and in particular DNV. Your people have been important for ensuring the quality of each individual ship. But, even more important for Vinashin and our development as a shipbuilding corporation, DNV’s support and advice of all kinds have been vital,” she adds.
However, although Vinashin has achieved a lot and passed the first impressive milestones, it is its plans and visions for the future that are the most impressive.
Enormous growth
Nguyen Van Hoc, the general director of Vinashin’s Pha Rung shipyard in Hai Phong that at the moment is working on its first Diamond 34,000 dwt bulk carrier for Graig Shipping, says:
“We are today 2,600 employees. In four years’ time we will be 10,000, delivering some 15 vessels a year that are up to 100,000 dwt, and have our own training school at the yard.”
His counterpart at the neighbouring Nam Trieu yard that recently saw its first 53,000 dwt bulk carrier sail away, Tran Quang Vu, has ambitions, plans and visions that exceed these. He says: “At that time (2012) we will have expanded our existing yards and constructed new ones, too. Our capacity will then be some 30 vessels from 10,000-150,000 dwt. Vinashin will even at that time have started to construct its first very large crude carrier that might be as big as 320,000 dwt.”
As qualified people will be the bottleneck for achieving these and a lot of other plans, Vinashin, supported by the Vietnamese government, has decided to build Vietnam’s first maritime university.
“Money you can borrow – pretty fast. People have to have qualifications and work experience – both of which take time,” emphasises Mr Nguyen Duc Than, the general director of a third yard in the group, the Ha Long Shipyard.
Perfect timing
“Yes, our plans and visions are ambitious,” states the director of business and international relations Ms. Pham Thu Hang. “We intend to make Vietnam the world’s fourth largest shipbuilding nation. Based on global shipping’s actual market situation and with the full support of our own government, we will be able to meet these targets.”
The timing of Vinashin’s aggressive entry into the international shipbuilding industry could hardly have been better. There is a boom in almost every shipping segment for the time being – a boom that has lasted longer than ever before.
“The newbuilding market will fluctuate. At the moment it is up,” continues Ms Pham Thu Hang. “No one can predict exactly what the future will be like, but our capacity will not only be for newbuildings. It can be used for conversions and repairs too, and our geographical position close to a lot of trade routes is another advantage for Vinashin and Vietnam.”
For Vietnam, the shipbuilding industry is an important instrument for becoming an industrial nation. The nation has been involved in several wars but this seems, impressively, to be a closed chapter of its history. Today, the 82 million people with an average age of just 26 years are eager to bring this nation to new heights.
“We are all eager to do so,” concludes Ms Pham Thu Hang.