According to reports, initial inspections have been made without results after HL01-Florence, reported ly the largest vessel ever built in Vietnam, took on water only hours after its launch April 6. Divers of Ha Long Shipbuilding Co. in northern Quang Ninh province on Monday checked the bottom of the 53,000-ton vessel, whose stern sunk slightly after water leaked through its outer hull and flooded half of the fourth among five compartments. A company official predicted that some of the ship’s valves had been negligently left unlocked, causing the leak. But another official said the reason might originate from the rails under the bottom of the vessel, which were used to create momentum for the ship launch.
