Khanh Hoa News

The U.S. Navy began the 8th Annual Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) with the Vietnam People's Navy, July 5, with the arrival of USS Coronado (LCS 4) and USNS Salvor (T-ARS-52) at Cam Ranh International Port. This five-day collaboration will focus on events and skills exchanges in diving and salvage and undersea medicine. A brief at-sea phase will allow ships from both navies to practice the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), ship handling, and medical evacuations. Subject matter expert exchanges ashore will focus on shipboard damage control, shipboard medicine, and law. NEA will also feature formal office calls, band concerts, community relations events, and team sports.

Vietnam’s first Kilo-class submarine named 'Hanoi' has arrived at the Cam Ranh Port in Khanh Hoa Province after a six week voyage from a Russian shipyard aboard the semi-submersible carrier 'Rolldock Sea', reports VietNamNet Bridge. The Kilo-636 submarine, is the first of the six 636 Varshavyanka (kilo)-class submarines run by diesel power that Vietnam is buying from Russia to modernise its navy, to enhance its capacity to defend the country’s territorial waters. The submarines are being built at Admiralty Verfi Shipyards in St. Petersburg.

The 82,000 dwt Kamsarmax bulk carrier was recently named in Vietnam's Hyundai Vinashin Shipyard (HVS). Nissaki is built for St Michael Shipping of Greece, marking a significant milestone in the development of the shipbuilding capability of Vietnam, being the biggest ship built to date in the country to Lloyd's Register class. The vessel was built at the joint venture yard, Hyundai Vinashin Shipyard (HVS), located in Khanh Hoa province. HVS is 30% owned by the Vietnamese Vinashin group and operated by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard…

Construction of Van Phong International Transshipment Port has ceased, opening door to investors says economic zone official. The $3.6 billion transshipment port, fully funded by the debt-laden Vietnam National Shipping Lines , or Vinalines , was started nearly three years ago, on October 31, 2009. However, the government has ordered the investor to stop construction, after 114 piles were successfully laid in the Van Phong Bay in the coastal province of Khanh Hoa. Phi said he is not surprised by the government’s request. “It’s difficult for Vinalines to continue implementing the project, given its poor ability,” he told Tuoi Tre. Phi added that without the role of Vinalines…

Oshima Shipbuilding contracted to build a US$ 180-million shipyard in Cam Ranh, Vietnam The southern Vietnam city of Cam Ranh is to get a new shipyard worth 3,780 billion Vietnam dong (US$180 million) with the granting of an investment licence to a Japanese firm. The project by Oshima Shipbuilding company will be conducted in two phases in the city's Thinh Dong Commune and will operate for 50 years. Khanh Hoa Province's Department of Investment and Planning said in the four years of phase one, Oshima Shipbuilding would construct the shipyard to build 12 vessels from 37,000-56,000 tons each to international standards. Phase two would increase the number of vessels from 12 to 24 annually. The project would create jobs for 3,000 skilled employees, the department said.

Oshima Shipbuilding Group of Japan to construct Vietnam shipyard facility Japanese Oshima Shipbuilding Group will construct a US$180 million shipyard in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa , according to Nguyen Chien Thang, Chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee. The project will occupy a total area of 304 ha of Cam Thinh Dong Commune in Cam Ranh Town . Using the latest technology, the shipyard will build 24 different types of cargo vessels with capacities between 38,000 – 56,000 DWT. Currently, Oshima cooperates with Nha Trang University in training local personnel as well as through sending apprentices to Japan.

The State-owned Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (Vinashin) has decided to scrap plans to invest $1 billion in a $5 billion steel mill joint venture with 's POSCO, as part of the government efforts to curb rising inflation.  The planned POSCO-Vinashin Steel Complex, located on a 970 hectares area of land in the central province of Khanh Hoa's Van Phong Bay, formed part of the Asian steel giant's ambitious goal to link a `steel belt'' from its home-turf, India, China and Vietnam. Source:  Korea Times

Posco Group, the world’s third-largest steel manufacturer, will build a hot-rolled steel plant in central Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa province. The factory, to come up in Dam Mon peninsula, will have an initial annual capacity of 4m tons which will later be doubled. Posco has tied up with local shipbuilding giant Vinashin to develop the project. Vinashin, known formally as the Vietnam Shipbuilding Corporation, will contribute 30 percent of the capital required for the project. The plant will be ready after 2010. competitiveness in the production and supply of steel-based products. Source: Dau Tu, Thanh Nien

According to reports, Vinashin has obtained the go-ahead from central Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa province to invest in series of industrial parks and urban projects in Cam Ranh Bay. The company will invest in three industrial parks (IPs), including a Cam Ranh IP-township, the South Cam Ranh IP, and a site in northern Hon Qui. The shipbuilding group will also build a 200ha Cam Phu – Cam Linh Urban Area and an ecotourism site in Hon Qui. Vinashin will work out detailed investment plans for each project to submit to the local government. Between now and 2010, the unlisted-shipbuilder plans to build seven shipyards, six shipbuilding industrial parks and seven shipbuilding industrial complexes throughout Vietnam.

According to Thanh Nien Daily, one person died and four were seriously burned including a South Korean man in a gas explosion at the Hyundai-Vinashin Shipyard in central Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa province. A worker accidentally opened a gas pipe valve in the hold of a ship that was being built, setting off the explosion in which he and two other Vietnamese workers were injured. After they were hospitalized, South Korean national Seo Son Ha, head of the shipyard’s staff health section, and his colleague Duong Ngoc Toan, 43, went down the hold to check. Gas exploded again, killing Toan and seriously injuring Seo. Source: Thanh Nien Daily

The Vietnamese Prime Minister has approved a project of the STX Shipbuilding Co Ltd of South Korea to build a shipyard in the Van Phong economic zone in the central province of Khanh Hoa, said the Asia Pulse According to the head of the zone's Management Board, Nguyen Trong Hoa, the shipyard will be the largest in the region with an initial investment capital of $500m. The shipyard will be built in Van Phong Port. In the first phase of the project, the port will be capable of building 15 ships with a total capacity of about 900,000 DWT. Source: Asia Pulse

It is being reported that the Vietnamese government has given approval in principle for STX Shipbuilding Co. Ltd of South Korean, to build a $500m shipyard covering 300 hectares in the Van Phong Economic Zone in Vietnam. Vietnam is keen to progress shipbuilding as a national champion and this is the latest development towards her goal of becoming a world-class shipbuilder to rival other countries such as China, South Korea and Japan. Although there are 'certain formalities' to go through before final approval, it is almost certain that there are just purely formalities and the construction of the new shipyard will go ahead, as Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has instructed state agencies 'to help' the company with them.

A company official said Vinalines would continue to invest in building new seaports in Dinh Vu, off the northern port city of Hai Phong, in Quang Ninh Province; Hiep Phuoc in HCM City; Cai Mep-Thi Vai in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, in addition to Vung Tau container port. The company is aiming for an average cargo capacity of between 50-55 million tonnes at each of its ports by 2010. Vinalines is also looking to turn Van Phong port in the central province of Khanh Hoa into a modern international entrepot. Vinalines expects to complete the first phase of its building plans for logistical and maritime services nationwide by 2010. Vinalines said it is also planning to move into banking and finance, as well as shipbuilding and transport-infrastructure development.

South Korea’s STX Group plans to build a $500m shipyard in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, Viet Nam News reported. Situated in the Van Phong Economic Zone, the shipyard will be capable of building vessels displacing up to 400,000 dead-weight tons (DWT), with an annual production output of about 1.6 million DWT. The provincial People’s Committee has proposed relevant authorities issue incentives to assist STX Group prepare the project. Supporters of the proposal believe the project would receive government support, adding the country should take advantage of its 3,250-km coastline and ideal locations for deep water ports. The development of the shipbuilding industry would encourage the development of many other heavy industries including steel making and diesel engine production.

A South Korean ship manufacturer is mulling a project to develop a large-scale shipyard in the coastal central province of Khanh Hoa that should be able to build giant vessels of up to 400,000 DWT, a local official said. A source from the provincial Service of Planning and Investment said South Korea’s STX Shipbuilding Co., a member of STX Group, has proposed to develop a shipyard costing $500m at Van Phong Bay. The proposal has received preliminary support from the provincial government and its relevant agencies. Nguyen Xuan Long, director of the planning and investment service, said that the province and its agencies were putting more efforts on attracting more foreign investment.