VietNamNet Bridge – The owners of these ships cannot lease or sell them. The million-USD ships are becoming piles of scraps at private wharves across northern provinces.

Another crew calls for help from abroad


The wharf behind a hill in An Son commune, Thuy Nguyen district, the northern port city of Hai Phong, is the home to the ships that were built in 2006-2007, the peak period of the maritime industry.

Located close to the Kinh Thay River, this wharf is actually a private ship repair facility. In the last one year, this facility has become a shelter for unused ships.

The anchor fee here is VND12 -VND15 million ($600-700)/ship/ month, depending on the load (not including the rent for sailors who take care of vessels). This price is considered quite "soft" compared with that of large transport businesses (up to VND2 million ($100) per day), as well as the costs that businesses have to pay for damaged ships or ships that have no cargos abroad.

This facility, with relatively low anchor charges, attracts many old ships, mainly vessels with a tonnage of 2,000 to 4,000 tons. According to ship owners, this is one of the biggest parks for this type of ship.

According to the facility owner, there are 10 ships docking here, including seven ships of the Leasing Company I of the Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development. The largest ship is 4,200 tons.

Most of the ships are downgrading very quickly. Some of them cannot run or their registration has expired. A ship that was built in 2006-2007 at the cost of VND30 - VND35 billion ($1.5-1.7 million) can be sold for a half now.

The cockpit of the Hoang Kim Star ship - one of the ships docking here.

The ship’s chimney.

The anchor chain.

Even the ventilation valve, which has not been used for a long time, is also in a state of failure.

As one of the ships owned by the Leasing Company I, this vessel, with a tonnage of 1,981 tons, was built in 2007 and was renamed twice.













The ship is being looked after by 1-2 sailors.

The wandering life of sailors at this park of "dead" ships. However, they are lucky compared with many sailors abroad. In the last two months, at least four overseas crews have called for help because they had to live on damaged ships without money, food and fuel.

VNE

Translated by P. Lan