Fabricius cuts first shipbuilding deal with Vinashin

Mitsubishi licenses marine engine technology to Vinashin.
(SGT-HANOI, HCMC) Denmark’s ship-owner Fabricius BR Marine has inked its first shipbuilding contract with Vietnam’s shipbuilder Vinashin, adding Vietnam as the first country in Asia to the company’s order list besides Europe. Fabricius and Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (Vinashin) yesterday signed a US$5 million deal to construct a 2,500 DWT vessel. The 1,600-HP and 67-meter-long vessel will be delivered by Vinashin in early 2007. The signing ceremony took place during a three-day visit of top executives and sales managers from 15 major Danish companies and three finance institutions to discuss cooperation with Vinashin and the national shipping company Vinalines. The contract for a small-size vessel marks the first start for Fabricius’ full commercial term in Vietnam, said John Schlotfeldt, managing director of Sea Saigon Shipping Ltd., Fabricius’ joint venture in Vietnam. He told the Daily that Fabricius would finalize another “big project” with Vinashin. The second contract, with a total value of around US$120 million, is for Vinashin to build six medium-sized vessels of “new design and high speed”. Each vessel is about 120 meters long with 12,500 DWT. “We hope to finalize the agreement in the beginning of next year,” Schlotfeldt said. He added that the company was also planning to set up a Danish maritime school with support from the Denmark Embassy in Vietnam, aiming at developing the company’s current seamen resource of 150 people to around 1,000 in the coming years. Danish Ambassador Peter Lysholt Hansen said at the signing that Vietnam’s shipbuilding industry, with an annual growth rate of over 30%, is presenting a “very good business” for suppliers, consultants and shipping lines in Denmark where shipping is the second largest industry after agriculture. Denmark’s Industrialization Fund for Developing Countries (IFD), which has injected around US$75 million in 13 different projects in Vietnam, is also planning to invest in some new shipping projects next year. Vinashin’s capital need in the next five years is estimated at around US$3 billion. The company has completed negotiations on shipbuilding contracts for the next five years with a total value of US$1.5 billion. Part of this investment will come from the US$750 million fund raised from the government’s first bond sale in New York early this month. * Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has signed an agreement under which it will license its UE low-speed diesel engine technology to Vinashin. With the signing, MHI aims to promote further penetration of its UE engines into the Vietnamese shipbuilding industry, which is expected to grow rapidly amidst the current boom in international shipping, according to the press release issued by MHI. Nguyen Quoc Anh, deputy general director of Vinashin, said that under the agreement, MHI would provide Vinashin with the licensing rights to manufacture its large-sized diesel engines. The contract applies specifically to the Mitsubishi UEC-LA, LS, LSII and LSE engines. The 2005-2014 licensing agreement also encompasses the marketing and servicing of these engines in Vietnam. Moreover, Mitsubishi will offer training for Vinashin experts in design and assembly so that the shipbuilder can start assembling the first engines late next year. Anh added that this was Vinashin’s second project for the manufacturing and assembly of large-sized marine engines, the first being with Denmark’s MAN B&W. Mitsubishi UE engines will be the largest engines manufactured in Vietnam, with an output capacity of 23,000 kilowatts, and will be supplied to local shipbuilding factories and exported, said Anh. By NGOC MAI and YEN DUNG/saigontimes