Work Begins on Vietnam's Biggest Container Ship

Work started on what will be Vietnam's biggest container ship on Feb. 24 at the Nam Trieu Shipbuilding Industry Company in the northern port city of Hai Phong. The 7,200-KW ship, which is 133.60 metres long, 19.40 metres wide and 9.45 metres high, will be capable of carrying 707 containers. The ship is part of a project, worth 2.6 trillion VND or 129 million EUR, to build ten 700-TEU container ships for MPC of Germany. The Nam Trieu shipbuilder is also building seven cargo ships, which have a capacity of 53,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT) each, under a contract signed with a UK partner. It is also building 6,500 DWT cargo ships and 13,500 DWT oil vessels for the domestic market and export. The company plans to be capable of generating stable jobs for 3,500 workers by the end of 2012. (Source: VNA)