VietNamNet Bridge – Hundreds of ships
are lying at sea under the sun. Since the ship exploiters cannot pay debts,
they have to abandon the ships worth multi-billions of dong, which are turning
into scrap iron.
The latest report by the Vietnam
Maritime Bureau (Vinamarine) showed that 43 ships have been anchored in local
port waters for many days. These include the ones left here since 2007. There
are 14 such ships in HCM City, three in Quang Ninh and four in Hai Phong.
The ships belong to many different
shipping firms, including state owned enterprises, namely Vinashin Lines and
Vien Dong Maritime Service Company.
The number of idle ships on the rise
Vinamarine has noted that the number
of ships anchoring for a long time tends to increase. In the economic downturn,
ship owners cannot find customers and do not have goods to carry. A lot of ship
owners have gone bankrupt, others are not financially capable enough to run the
ships. Especially, some of them have been arrested.
The management agency has emphasized
that these are just the ships reckoned by the maritime management agency, and
that the report only shows the situation of the ships it has examined.
Meanwhile, the agency cannot count on other ships put under the management of
other ministries and branches.
A Vinamarine’s official said that many
ships have been anchoring on the same places for a long time without noticing
to the management agency. Others have been staying on the boundary areas put
under the management of both waterway and maritime management agencies;
therefore, they could not be taken into account of Vinamarine.
Quang Ninh is the province where most
of the ships are gathering. Twenty ships are gathering in Vung Dang of Ha Long
City, while hundreds of ships could be seen at different places in Quang Ninh
province.
Nhat, a ferryman, said that he usually
carries bank officers who try to seize ships. The ships are the assets of the borrowers
mortgaged at banks for loans. Since the borrowers cannot pay debts, the banks
seize the ships.
Ships turning into scrap iron
Nguyen Huu Bon, Chair of the Board of
Directors of Viet Thang Company Ltd in Hai Phong, complained that the current
lending interest rate of 15 percent is unaffordable to shipping firms.
“With the low freights, few goods and
high interest rates, we dare not take over the ships for exploitation,” Bon
said.
A senior executive of BM shipping
agent in Hai Phong City also said that in the current big difficulties, a lot
of ship exploiters accept to abandon ships, while other enterprises dare not
take the ships for commercial exploitation.
Under the current regulations, the
enterprises which take over the abandoned ships at the original prices, even
though the prices have dropped sharply in the economic downturn. The high
prices, plus the high interest rate of 15 percent would make it impossible to
make profit.
Since no one wants to take over the
ships for exploitation, the ships have been left idle for a long time and
turning into scrap iron. This would not only deal a strong blow on ship owners,
but also cause a big waste to the national economy.
The An Lu Transport Union, which has
the fleet with the total tonnage of 270,000 tons (100 ships) valued at 3
trillion dong, has called on the State to apply special mechanisms to rescue
the shipping industry.
The enterprises wish the State to
accept to ease interest rates and freeze debts in order to help enterprises
hold out and survive the current difficulties. If the enterprises can keep the
ships, they would be put the fleet into service right when the economy recovers
and the number of clients increases again.
Source:
Vietnam Net Bridge. 6 October 2012
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/49557/multi-billion-dong-ships-turning-into-scrap-iron.html
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