Prime Minister gets report on faulty fishing boats

The report was prepared at the request of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc following numerous complaints by fishermen who reported poor quality of the new fishing vessels built with loans made available under the policy.

According to MARD, the problems with newly built boats in the central provinces of Binh Dinh and Phu Yen were due to faults of the Nam Trieu and Dai Nguyen Duong shipbuilding companies.

The two shipbuilding companies have agreed to repair and replace machines and equipment for the damaged ships within the next two months, all the expenses of which will be borne by the companies.

MARD has been asked to direct the Fishing Vessel Register Centre under the Directorate of Fisheries to inspect the quality of these repairs.

Aside from substandard quality of ships reported in Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces, MARD said that in Thanh Hoa province, 18 of 25 new steel-clad ships also suffered from electricity, crane and winch malfunctions. However, most have been repaired, only two are still being held at the shipyard. Quang Nam province has 35 new steel-clad ships, 34 of which have started operating normally, the remaining inactive one was due to the ship-owner’s demand to replace the main engine.

Earlier, MARD ordered 27 coastal provinces across the country to examine the quality of new steel fishing boats.

 A number of boats were found not up to the requirements for offshore fishing.

Authorities in Binh Dinh’s neighbouring province of Quang Ngai have also started to review and check all steel fishing boats following incidents related to substandard steel vessels uncovered nationwide.

“After a series of steel vessels were found to be of poor quality and breakdowns occurred on-shore in Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces, affecting fishing activities and fishermen’s trust, Quang Ngai decided to check all steel vessels, especially main engines,” said Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Duong Van To.

“If main engines are found to be substandard, providers must replace them,” To added.

The department asked shipbuilders of steel fishing boats to closely work with ship-owners to fix problems to ensure faultless fishing activities. 

Under Decree 67 (dated July 7, 2014), ship-owners who are building steel or new-material ships with total main engine capacity between 400CV and 800CV can borrow from commercial banks a sum of money which does not exceed 90 per cent of the total costs.

The preferential interest rate is 7 percent per year, of which ship-owners are required to pay only 2 percent per year while the State budget would subsidise the remaining 5 percent.

According to MARD’s report, under decree No 67 on fishery development, by the end of May, loan requests of 1,948 eligible ship-owners have been approved: 1,510 requests are for building new ships (619 of which are steel-hulled vessels) and 438 loans are to upgrade existing vessels.

More than 980 ship-owners have signed credit contracts with commercial banks for total loans of 9.71 trillion VND (427.3 million USD), 8.78 trillion VND (386 million USD) or 90 percent of which has been disbursed.

By the end of May, 666 ships, including 622 fishing vessels (297 steel-hulled, 347 wooden-clad, and 22 composite-hulled vessels) and 44 logistics ships, have been completed