OSTC’s predecessor was a state‑owned enterprise under VIMC, established in 1993 as Thuy Bac Inland Water Transport. The current headquarters is at No278 Ton Duc Thang street in Hanoi.

The charter capital is VND200 billion and major shareholders include VIMC, holding 49 percent, Northern Sea Transport & Trade JSC 7.55 percent, and Bao Minh Insurance Corporation 9.97 percent.

The number of employees as of June 30 had dropped to 60 (compared with 121 as of Dec 31, 2024. The current chair is Hoang Le Vuong, and the CEO is Tran Quang Toan.

As introduced by OSCT, the company owns a powerful fleet including the ships Hong Linh, Phuong Dong 05, Phuong Dong 10, Phuong Dong 06, and Oriental Glory.

However, fleet brings enormous financial debt burdens. All loans are secured by these ships, some of which have been seized and handled by banks.

As of June 30, 2025, the company had carried total liabilities of up to VND5,530 billion, of which VND5,528 billion were short-term debts, including VND3.163 trillion in short-term loans.

The profit before tax for the first half‑year remained negative VND166 billion (compared to negative VND205 billion same period last year), while accumulated losses by June 30 were VND5,524 billion and owner’s equity was negative VND5,265 billion.

In the first half of the year, revenue was VND56 billion, but financial costs were VND110 billion (interest expense VND36 billion, foreign exchange losses VND74 billion).

The heavy burden of interest payments and debt principal is why OSTC still cannot find a way out of its difficulties.

Among the VND3,000 billion due loans, OSTC owes Vietcombank VND1,097 billion, Agribank VND1,214 billion, SeABank VND466 billion, VDB VND151 billion, MSB VND52 billion, and Bao Minh Saigon Company VND15 billion.

Auditors express doubt about going concern

The issues OSTC is facing have caused auditors to refuse to issue an audit opinion on the financial statements due to inability to collect sufficient and appropriate audit evidence to form a basis for an audit opinion.

They stated that at the time of issuing the review report on the financial statements for the accounting period from January 1 to June 30, 2025, they had not received confirmation letters for the balances of loans and finance lease payables.

Furthermore, during the first half of the year, OSTC did not recognize interest payable on loans related to the ships Nosco Victory, Hong Linh and Ngoc Son, estimated at VND20.4 billion (corresponding principal balance over VND623.4 billion).

According to OSTC, these three ships were sold by banks, but the company had not received detailed notifications of principal balances to be deducted. So the company has not calculated the payable interest on the loans related to these three ships.

Nosco Victory was financed by SeABank together with PVCombank and VIB; that loan has been sold to VAMC.

Hong Linh was financed by MSB and VDB; in 2018 the company handed over the ship for bank auction to recover debt. Since early 2025, the company has stopped accounting for interest on this ship.

Ngoc Son was financed by VDB and Agribank. In 2016 it suffered an accident in Maldives and was fully insured by PJICO. Since 2020 the company has not accounted for interest payable for this ship.

Also according to the auditing firm, the auditors issued a disclaimer of opinion on OSTC’s financial statements due to not receiving confirmation letters for the balances of receivables, payables, loans, and finance leases as of June 30; and not receiving confirmation letters for investments and financial statements of investments in two associated companies.

OSTC shares are listed on the UpCom exchange as NOS. However, due to negative after-tax profit, this stock was placed under trading restrictions by HNX (Hanoi Stock Exchange) in 2023. The current NOS stock price is only VND600 per share, but trading is rare.

Manh Ha