Hong Kong-based Sam Woo Holdings Ltd, a marine transportation company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam’s Nha Trang Vinalines Marine to build a 60-hectare shipyard in Vietnam.

Construction work is scheduled to begin by the end of the year.

Sam Woo Chairman, Lau Chun-ming said the project scheduled for completion in 2010 at a cost of at least US$60 million, would include two docks and six wharves. Once completed, the shipyard will be capable of building two special purpose vessels, refitting three to four semi-submersible heavy cargo vessels and conducting regular maintenance on between 10 to 12 vessels a year.

Lau Chun-ming said Vietnam was chosen due to its abundance of oil fields and iron ore that are key ingredients for the development of the shipyard industry.