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Thanh Nien News

04 Apr 2016

Vietnam Seizes Chinese Fuel Ship

Vietnam's coast guard has seized a Chinese vessel for intruding into its territorial waters, say local media. The ship, carrying more than 100,000 litres of fuel, was stopped near the northern maritime border last week. Vietnamese media say the crew admitted they were supplying fuel to Chinese fishing boats in the area. The government-owned Vietnam News Agency said the seized vessel had been disguised as a fishing boat. The report comes amid accusations from Malaysia and Indonesia that Chinese fishing vessels, backed by the Chinese coast guard, are intruding into what the countries consider as their sovereign waters. There has been no comment from China.

10 Feb 2016

Vietnam Gets Fifth Submarine from Russia

The fifth of the six Kilo-class submarines that Vietnam purchased from Russia has arrived at Cam Ranh Bay, Thanh Nien news reported. The submarine, which was delivered by a Dutch-registered cargo ship, laid anchor near the Cam Ranh Port. Vietnam purchased the six submarines for $2 billion in 2009. The sixth submarine is undergoing sea trials in Russia and is expected to arrive in the middle of 2016. The fourth submarine, codenamed HQ-185 Da Nang, arrived at Cam Ranh Port back in July. The latest delivery comes amidst simmering disputes in the South China Sea, where both Vietnam and China are claimants alongside the Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Last year, Vietnamese officials said that the first Kilo-class submarine had begun patrolling the South China Sea.

16 May 2014

Analysis: South China Sea Stand-off Led to Mob Violence

As a thousand Vietnamese rioters stormed his factory on Tuesday night, smashing windows and ripping down Chinese-language signs, Taiwanese executive Henry Yeh hid with a colleague in the back of a fire truck, clutching the only weapon he could find: a golf club. "With that many people surrounding us, it was useless. I was afraid they would kill us," said Yeh, 27, who works for a Taiwan textile company at an industrial park in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City. Yeh and his colleague eventually escaped unscathed. Others were not so fortunate. What started as heated but peaceful nationwide protests against Chinese oil-drilling in a patch of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam exploded into two days of rioting that left hundreds of Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean factories damaged or destroyed.

09 Dec 2013

Vietnam Authorities Blame Watchkeeper for Fishermen's Deaths

Vietnamese authorities have concluded that a collision between a Singaporean container ship and a local fishing boat that killed eight people in September, 2013, was caused by the negligence of the ship’s second mate, reports Thanhnien News. After announcing its findings, the Vietnam Maritime Administration handed them over to police in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau, where the accident took place, for further investigation. On September 16, 2013, Sima Sapphire collided with the boat with 16 fishermen on board, which sank some 54 nautical miles off the coast of Vung Tau. The crew managed to rescue 8 of them but the others were lost.

12 Nov 2013

Vietnam Shipbuilders Vinashin Restructured & Renamed

Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, the debt-ridden national shipbuilder, is being renamed and restructured as the government works to reform inefficient state-owned enterprises that are weighing down the economy, reports the country's Thanhnien News. Vinashin, as the company is known, will have its name changed to Shipbuilding Industry Corp., or SBIC, according to a Transport Ministry statement cited by Thanhnien News. SBIC will be state-owned with eight subsidiaries and registered capital of 9.52 trillion dong ($451 million). The shipbuilder, whose near-bankruptcy spurred sovereign credit downgrades, defaulted on a $600 million internationally syndicated loan in 2010. Vinashin had indicated it plans to cut 14,000 jobs, more than half its workforce. Source: Thanhnien News

09 Apr 2013

China Cruise Ship to Visit Disputed Islands

China's plans to sail a cruise ship to the Paracels Islands in the South China Sea ahead of the nation's coming May Day holiday likely to escalate tensions. China is planning to let tourists visit the Xisha Islands (the name China has given to the Paracels Archipelago) ahead of the forthcoming May Day holiday, according to  Vietnam's Thanhnien News, citing a  China state news agency Xinhua  report. An unnamed 47,000 tons cruise ship owned by Haihang Group with accommodation for 1,965 passengers is ready for sailing. The official Vietnam News Agency claims the announcement violates Vietnam’s sovereignty and is against the spirit of the talks in which China committed to fully follow the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

23 Nov 2012

Vietnam Port Bars Cargoship Departure After Oil Spill

Maritime authorities in Quang Ngai ban a Panamanian-flagged ship from leaving after it spilled nearly 1,000 liters of oil at a local port. The Panama-flagged Chinese-owned Race Express belonging to Nova Shipping & Logistics Pte Ltd can only leave Dung Quat Port after its owners have cleaned up the spill, reports Thanh Nien News. The 43,000 DWT ship had anchored at the port to load wood chips for transport to China. Reportedly the crew of Racer Express was pumping fuel oil to ballast the vessel as it prepared to leave port. Provincial agencies have started estimating the spill's impact on the environment and carry out further cleaning after a local response team mopped up the oil. Estimates were that the spill measured 300-350 square meters.

18 Apr 2012

Vietnam Shipping Executives Appeal Jail Terms

Hanoi — Eight former top executives at Vietnam's state-owned shipbuilder have appealed against lengthy prison sentences handed to them over their role in its near-collapse, official media said Wednesday. Chairman Pham Thanh Binh, 58, was jailed for 20 years late last month for intentionally violating state regulations at Vinashin, which racked up billions of dollars of debts, shaking investor confidence in the Communist country. Seven other former top executives at the company, formally known as the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, were given sentences of between three and 19 years after a four-day trial in the northern port city of Haiphong.

13 Jun 2011

Vinashin Must Clear Debts

According to a report from Thanh Nien News, Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group is facing difficulties clearing its debts but eventually it will have to pay them all, Minister and Chairman of Government Office Nguyen Xuan Phuc said.    Source: Thanh Nien News

06 Jun 2011

Vinashin Must Clear Debts Despite Difficulties

According to a report from Thanh Nien, Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group is facing difficulties clearing its debts but eventually it will have to pay them all, Minister and Chairman of Government Office Nguyen Xuan Phuc said. Total debts of Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, also known as Vinashin, reached $4.2b as of the end of 2009, according to an audit by the Government Inspectorate.   Source: Thanh Nien

13 Jul 2010

Sinking Ship Builder Restructures

According to a July 9 report from Thanh Nien News, loss-making shipbuilding giant Vinashin has admitted its massive expansion efforts over the past few years had been overconfident and had led to restructuring it is now undergoing. The government said that the shipbuilder’s debts totaled more than $4.2b. As a result, it has to be restructured so that it can focus only on its core business, the government said. Projects that are not necessary to the company’s development will be transferred to other state-owned enterprises, like Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines). (Source: Thanh Nien News)

13 Aug 2007

Posco to Build Steel Plant in Southern Vietnam

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

19 Jul 2007

Shipyard Gas Explosion Kills One

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

20 Jun 2007

Vinashin Launches Freighters

Vietnamese shipbuilder, the state-run Vinashin, delivered Tuesday two 53,000 ton container ships to the UK’s Graig Investment. The 623-ft. vessels were built by two Vinashin subsidiaries – Nam Trieu Shipbuilding Industry Company and Ha Long Shipbuilding Company. The vessels, built at a cost of $30m each, are based on designs provided by Denmark’s Carl Bro Marine. Source: Thanhnien News

02 May 2007

Shipbuilding Complex Breaks Ground in Vietnam

Construction of a $106m shipbuilding complex began in Hau Giang Province. The plant is expected to be a major booster to economic growth in the Mekong Delta. The complex will produce ships of up to 70,000 tons. The state-owned Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) has planned to pour $68.7m in the plant. The complex will also house a container production factory, a ship engine manufacturing plant, ports, and a self-reliant thermo-electric power plant. Three other Mekong Delta provinces, Long An, Ca Mau and Kien Giang, have also begun work on ship yards to produce 20,000-100,000-ton vessels. Source: Thanhnien News

20 Dec 2006

Vinashin and Songsan to Produce Steel

Vinashin has joined forces with Korea’s Songsan Company to form a joint venture to produce steel structures for shipbuilding. The Songsan-Vinashin JV will invest $35m to build a factory in the northern Hai Duong Province. The steel mill is set to come on stream in the second quarter of 2008. The mill is designed to produce steel structures for shipbuilding yards including Vinashin, replacing imported products in the national industry. The ship maker wants 60 percent of its steel to be sourced locally by 2010 from the current 30-40 percent. Vinashin Group said it needs $2.5b to carry out projects under the strategy of $1b in ship exports to 2010.

19 Dec 2006

Vinashin Builds Oil Tank for PetroVietnam

Vietnamese state-owned shipyard Vinashin has clinched a $110m order for a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit for an affiliate of state giant PetroVietnam. Under an agreement signed between Vinashin and Petroleum Technical Service Company (PTSC), FSO-05 will be designed to have a loading capacity of 150,000 tons and handle 15,000 tons of oil a day. It is to be built in the next 17 months. Vinashin said it would use advanced British technology to build the FSO. FSOs are usually used in oil fields where it is impossible to lay pipes linking the drilling platform with onshore facilities. The drilling platform transfers oil to the FSO where it is stored until a tanker arrives.

31 Oct 2006

Vietnam Shipyard Builds Tanker for PetroVietnam

An affiliate of Vietnam shipbuilding giant Vinashin started work on the first of three 105,000 oil tankers under a contract last July with the state-run oil giant PetroVietnam. The $56m freighter to be 245m-long, 43m-wide and 20m-height will be built by Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company and have state-of-the-art equipment satisfying latest international maritime conventions. The first will be handed over by the March of 2008, and the second and third by 2009 before the Dung Quat Oil Refinery goes on stream in 2009 – the first of its kind in the country which is now under construction in the central Quang Ngai Province. The company inked a $400…

10 Apr 2006

Questions Loom Over Leaks in HL01-Florence

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.

05 Apr 2006

PetroVietnam to Sign Oil Exploration Contract

PetroVietnam is to sign an oil exploration contract with US Pogo and Canada’s Keeper Resources on block 124 offshore of central Vietnam. Block 124 is located in Phu Khanh Basin covering a 6.007 sq.km area along the country’s central coastal line, 50km northeast of Nha Trang City. The exploration block was offered for international tender by PetroVietnam in October 2004. Under the seven-year-term contract, the foreign contractors committed to conduct 3D seismic exploration on an 850 sq.km area and drill two exploration wells in the first three years of exploration. PetroVietnam is entitled to 20 percent equity participation when oil or gas is discovered under the contract, in which US Pogo is the main operator.

16 Feb 2006

Saigon Shipyard Completes Largest Vessel

The Saigon Shipbuilding Industry Company (SSIC) handed over Wednesday a 6,500 ton freighter to the Saigon Shipping Company. The Saigon Queen, which cost $7.2 million, is 103-m long and 17-m wide, and has a top speed of 23 km per hour, is the largest vessel built by the shipyard. On its maiden run, the ship will carry agricultural products to China. The SSIC, a subsidiary of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, is building two more freighters of the same size for state-run shipping corporation Vinalines and the Can Tho Marine Transport Company. It is scheduled to hand over the vessels at the end of this year. The company has won contracts to build ships for Canadian and Danish companies. Source: Thanh Nien

03 Feb 2006

Vietnam Shipbuilding Growing

The Vietnam Shipping Corp. (VINASHIN) grew 46.5 percent last year, reporting a turnover of $ 692 million. This year, VINASHIN has lined up several large projects including construction of and upgrades to 14 shipyards, the most prominent of which are Song Hong, Ha Long, Nhat Le, and Nghi Son in the north and Dung Quat, Cam Ranh, and Da Nang in the central region. The state-owned giant plans promotions, training programs, and market expansion in Egypt, Japan, and several European countries besides forming a partnership with Japan’s Universal Corp. to manufacture ship parts. Source: Thanhnien