Shipbuilder Plans $94m Facelift for Central Port

The Vietnam National Shipbuilding Corp. will reportedly turn Cua Viet into a 300-400 ha port complex with a shipyard, ecotourism facilities, a golf course, and a wharf to accommodate 100,000-ton ships, according to a report on www.thanhniennews.com.

The province has reportedly spent $1.74m on the port since 1993 but it has been plagued by amassing sand deposits. The people’s committee then decided to hand over the port to Vinashin hoping it would be able to develop Cua Viet and ultimately generate economic growth for the province.

Established in 1996 Vinashin and its 20 subsidiaries have targeted turning Vietnam into the world’s 11th largest shipbuilder, four spots up the table, in the near future. They aim to earn revenues of $1 billion this year.

The group has won contracts worth $12.3 billion to build seagoing vessels in the next few years. The shipyard will now focus on oil tanker building. The company is capable of making 100,000-ton crude oil tankers and 150,000-ton floating storage and offloading units. Under a Vietnam government strategy, Vinashin will build a national shipping fleet to meet domestic transport and 30 percent of the export transport demand for crude oil. Vinashin said it was in need of $2.5b to carry out projects to reach the goal of $1-billion in ship exports by 2010. As part of the effort to reach the target, Vinashin plans to invest in upgrading 10 major shipyards capable of building 3,000-10,000 ton ships.

(Source: www.thanhniennews.com)