Since the beginning of the year, Hai Phong shipyards have continuously launched large ships. Along with that, shipbuilding projects are also quite diverse with a lot of potential. According to the assessment of shipbuilding enterprises, the shipbuilding market has really flourished and recovered. However, to promote this strength, in addition to the efforts of enterprises, there needs to be attention from all levels and sectors, especially in removing difficulties in capital and human resources to effectively revive the shipbuilding industry.
Prospered by many large ships
In mid-May 2024, Pha Rung Shipbuilding Company safely put into water the 13,000-ton oil-chemical tanker named BS Hai Phong, design code YN-01, built for a Korean partner. This is the first in a series of 8 oil-chemical tankers with design codes from YN-01 to YN08 officially launched. At the same time, Pha Rung Shipbuilding Company organized a bid for the YN-02 ship and signed a contract to build a new ship with design code YN-08. The leader of Pha Rung Shipbuilding Company said that this series of 8 13,000-ton ships is an expansion of the project to build 5 new ships initially plus 3 more ships, when Pha Rung proved its conditions, qualifications, and capabilities to the Korean partner.
Also in May, Bach Dang Shipbuilding Company successfully launched a 17,500-ton ship with design code SS-12 named Truong An ship newly built for the ship owner Minh Thang Transport Trading Company Limited. Notably, on the afternoon of May 10, 2024, for the first time in the history of Vietnamese shipbuilding, a 65,000-ton ship named Truong Minh Dream 01 was successfully launched by Nam Trieu Shipbuilding Company Limited, marking a great step forward for Vietnamese shipbuilding enterprises. That was also the day of laying the KY of the second 65,000-ton ship for the partner Dong Bac Shipbuilding Industry Joint Stock Company…
According to Song Cam Shipbuilding Joint Stock Company, recently, orders have increased rapidly. Song Cam’s main products are large-capacity tug-pusher ships. Each year, the company builds about 30 ships.
Not only that, shipbuilding enterprises are also holding a series of orders to build new ships, showing new developments in the Vietnamese shipbuilding industry in general and the Hai Phong shipbuilding industry in particular.
According to the assessment of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (SBIC), Hai Phong shipbuilding enterprises have highly skilled human resources and infrastructure to serve the shipbuilding industry, and can build modern ships in the world. Therefore, many shipbuilding enterprises after restructuring have the opportunity to develop such as: Pha Rung, Thai Binh Duong, Song Cam, Nam Trieu… These enterprises can build large, high-quality ships, serving domestically and for export, creating their own brands.
There are still many difficulties and problems
However, the Hai Phong shipbuilding industry still faces many difficulties and challenges. Mr. Le Doan Tam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pacific Shipbuilding Joint Stock Company, said that the shipbuilding and maritime transport industry is warming up, creating stable jobs for many workers, contributing to economic development and ensuring social security. Currently, the company builds and repairs ships with a tonnage of up to 56,000 DWT; ensuring jobs for more than 600 workers with an income of 15 million VND/person/month, contributing tens of billions of VND to the budget.
According to Mr. Le Doan Tam, the demand for new shipbuilding to serve maritime transport in the world is currently high. Many old oil and chemical tankers, dry cargo ships from 5000-30,000 DWT, built long ago, have been forced to be cut and demolished because they do not meet the standards of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Convention. The dismantling of many ships has led to a large shortage of ships in the market. Currently, the largest shipbuilding countries in the world such as China, Japan, and South Korea have full orders until the end of 2028 because some factories have no workers and have to stop production and some factories have switched to wind power production.
Meanwhile, Vietnam is a country with a long coastline, close to international shipping routes, a dense river system, and many advantages for shipbuilding, transportation, and exploitation of domestic and international marine resources. Hai Phong is one of the major cradles of the shipbuilding industry. Currently, shipyards in the area all have a workload until 2025-2026-2028. A representative of Song Cam Shipbuilding Company also said that if there is enough capacity to do more, partner Damen is still ready to provide orders and propose that the company expand production, striving to reach the capacity to build at least 60 ships/year by 2028. With the construction of a series of 8 oil and chemical tankers with the symbol YN, Pha Rung Shipbuilding Company stabilizes employment until 2027. Completing Truong Minh Dream 01 ship and building new ship 02 also creates jobs for Nam Trieu shipyard workers until the end of 2026…
However, to achieve this scale, in addition to preparing to invest in machinery, equipment, and facilities, it is also necessary to have enough human resources to handle the work. According to Le Doan Tam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pacific Shipbuilding Company, human resources are one of the weakest points of the shipbuilding industry today. Specifically, there is a great shortage of qualified hull engineers and mechanical engineers; workers with low skills are difficult to recruit. The shipbuilding profession, with its arduous, toxic nature and low income, is not attractive enough for students and new graduates.
Vietnam Maritime University, the “cradle” of shipbuilding training for the past ten years, is having difficulty recruiting students for traditional, strong majors that have made the school famous in the past. Although shipbuilding companies come to the school every year to “place orders” and offer scholarships to encourage students, and the need to recruit hundreds of engineers each year, very few people still study there.
According to a representative of Vietnam Maritime University, recruiting students for the shipbuilding major has been easier in the past 1-2 years, but the number of students applying and the entrance score have not improved much. If in 2008, the entrance of the Shipbuilding Faculty was 395 students, by 2019, the total number of students studying at this faculty was only 13 students (down 97%). The number of graduates each year has also continuously decreased, if in 2010 the total number of graduates was 339 students, by 2021 it decreased to 38 students (down 87%). According to the school’s leaders, recently, the number of training has improved but still cannot meet the requirements. Meanwhile, the demand for shipbuilding engineers in recent years in domestic and foreign enterprises has continuously increased, averaging about 100 engineers/year.
Therefore, shipbuilding enterprises expect the State and the city to have reasonable support mechanisms and policies to train and supplement human resources for the shipbuilding industry.
In addition, according to shipbuilding enterprises, shipbuilding is a heavy industry that requires high technology. It takes 10-15 years to build a perfect shipyard. Shipyard equipment is also specific, to serve production, it is necessary to have many large lifting capacity cranes, many large specialized vehicles, along with gantry crane systems, bridge cranes, and a variety of mechanical equipment, etc.
The advantage is that most shipbuilding enterprises have been operating for many years and have the capacity to build and repair large ships. However, capital for enterprises is a difficult problem. According to Mr. Le Doan Tam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pacific Shipbuilding Company, the bank interest rate of 7-14% is a great pressure. Meanwhile, other countries in the world only have 2-3%/year. Banks also require collateral, so accessing loans for enterprises is not easy. Along with that, shipbuilding materials and equipment are mainly imported, so the cost is quite high…
Therefore, shipbuilding enterprises recommend that specialized state management agencies promptly review and re-evaluate the role and position of the shipbuilding industry, and find appropriate methods and solutions to overcome and handle problems arising from practice. For many years, from an industry with many contributions to the country’s economy, the shipbuilding industry seems to be neglected and lacks the necessary attention to develop to its full potential. Although the shipbuilding industry’s profit margin is not high, its spillover effect on the economy is huge, promoting the development of many industries. Therefore, the State and the city need to soon orient the development of a fundamental, professional, and long-term training strategy to help the shipbuilding industry gradually solve the problem of attracting human resources, expanding and developing production, and keeping up with world technology./.
Article and photos: Hong Thanh
