Newly-built, poor-quality steel fishing boats in the central coastal province of Bình Định await fixing at the Quy Nhon Fishing Port (Photo: VNA)

 HCM City (VNA)𓃲 - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)has ordered 27 coastal provinces across the country to examine the building ofnew steel fishing boats, under PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s request.

The move comes after the media reported that there are mistakes made in theimplementation of a decree, leading to poor quality fishing vessels built underthe policy. Worst still, a number of boats did not qualify for fishingoffshore.

Speaking at a recent meeting, MARD Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong said the ministrywould examine all ship manufacturing under the 2014 Government decree onpolicies for the development of the fisheries sector.

Under Decree 67 (dated July 7, 2014), ship owners building steel ornew-material ships with total main engine capacity between 400CV and 800CV canborrow from commercial banks a sum of money which does not exceed 90 percent ofthe total investment in the building of the ships.

The interest rate is 7 percent per year, of which ship owners are required topay 2 percent per year while the State budget would subsidise 5 percent.

Many fishermen who received loans from commercial banks to buy steel shipsbuilt under the decree are reported to have complained about the poor qualityof these ships, saying they continued to face malfunctions and repairs.

Recent examinations by authorities of the central province of Binh Dinhhave found some ships faced frequent breakdowns and deterioration.

The ministry would also review, adjust and supplement standards and criteriarelating to steel and wood-hulled fishing ships or ships built with newmaterials to ensure their quality and safety when operating offshore.

In addition, local authorities have been asked to increase supervision andinspection of the construction and upgrade of fishing ships under the decree intheir localities.

Fishermen in the central coastal province of Binh Dinh who received the loansfrom commercial banks to buy steel ships are continuing to confront boatmalfunctions.

According to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,there are currently 771 new steel fishing ships being built under the decree,most of which are in good condition.

There are only 18 substandard steel fishing ships, of which 13 were built byNam Trieu One Member Ltd Company and five built by Dai Nguyen DuongShipbuilding Company, according to the ministry.

According to the recent examination by the Binh Dinh province’s agriculturedepartment, the ships have been found to suffer from frequent breakdowns anddegradation.

In particular, main engines in nine ships built by Nam Trieu company werebroken while the power supply machines in three other ships are working on andoff.

Tran Minh Vuong of the central province of Binh Dinh, owner of the fishing shipBĐ 99027 TS, said he had a contract with the Dai Nguyen Duong ShipbuildingCompany, to build his steel fishing boat for 15 billion VND (660,000 USD).

Under the contract, the materials to build the ship would be made in Japan or theRepublic of Korea, but actually they were made in China, Vuong said.  

The ship first went out to sea last July. But on the first trip, the freezerstorage malfunctioned, and the ship had to turn back to shore before it couldcatch any fish.

Vuong was among those eligible for a loan from commercial banks to build steelships under the decree.

Similarly, Nguyen Van Manh, also of Binh Dinh province and owner of a fishingship built under the same conditions at a cost of 15 billion VND, complainedabout the quality of the ship, which was built by the same shipbuildingcompany.

On the three times that the ship sailed out, it went from having a broken screwto a broken wheel and flooded storage, Manh said.

However, a representative of the Dai Nguyen Duong Shipbuilding Company, whoasked not to be identified, blamed the fishermen for the ships’ degradation.

𓆏 He says the ship owners do not follow maintenance procedures properly, whichrequire ships to undertake maintenance after every sea trip, not every sixmonths like wood-built ships.