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Viewing cable 09HOCHIMINHCITY396, SOUTHERN SHIPBUILDING SLOWLY TRANSITIONS FROM STATE-OWNED TO

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09HOCHIMINHCITY396 2009-05-26 08:17 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Ho Chi Minh City
VZCZCXRO2415
OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0396/01 1460817
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 260817Z MAY 09
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5760
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY 0136
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 3769
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 5996
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000396 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, USAID/ANE, EEB/TPP/BTA/ANA 
USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO 
USTR FOR BISBEE 
TREASURY FOR CHUN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EWWT ELNT OTRA PGOV PREL SOCI VM
SUBJECT: SOUTHERN SHIPBUILDING SLOWLY TRANSITIONS FROM STATE-OWNED TO 
PRIVATE YARDS 
 
REF: HCMC 61 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000396  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  The global economic downturn has hit southern 
Vietnam's state-owned ship yards hard, reducing order books to a 
handful of five to 20,000 dead weight ton vessels only suitable 
for domestic or regional work.  Conversely, private sector 
shipbuilders, both domestic and international, have leveraged 
state of the art technology and skilled work forces to establish 
thriving international niche construction and repair markets. 
During their May 5 to 8 visit, a National Defense University's 
Industrial College of the Armed Forces delegation heard time and 
again that outdated technology, competing government priorities, 
and state-owned shipbuilder Vinashin's allocation of new ship 
orders to northern shipyards are all contributing to a slow 
shift from public to private shipbuilding in southern Vietnam. 
End Summary. 
 
Nothing Vietnamese but the Labor 
-------------------------------- 
2. (SBU) The Vinashin shipyards in HCMC visited by the National 
Defense University's Industrial College of the Armed Forces 
(ICAF) delegation were low capacity, low-value added operations, 
stitching together low tonnage vessels from imported inputs. 
Director of the Saigon Ship Marine shipyard Mr. Le Hai Lam said 
the yard built two ships last year, but because of cancellations 
delivered neither.  The percentage of domestic content in new 
ships averages 20 percent, Mr. Lam said, although the Japanese 
client for one of last year's ships provided 100 percent of the 
ship's content, requiring the yard only for labor.  At the 
nearby Saigon Shipbuilding Enterprise, Vice General Director Mr. 
Le Hong Quang quoted a similar average of 30 percent domestic 
content for new ship construction, with electronics, 
furnishings, and equipment all being sourced overseas, and the 
steel plate imported from China. 
 
3. (SBU) Neither shipyard is equipped to build vessels over 
15,000 dead weight tons (DWT) according to Mr. Lam and Mr. 
Quang, a weight category that appears to typify Vinashin's 
current output.  Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Shipbuilding 
Industry Association (VSIA) Mr. Hoang Hung told ICAF in a 
separate meeting that the majority of Vinashin's international 
orders are for vessels between five and 20,000 DWT.  Neither of 
the HCMC Vinashin shipyards visited by ICAF had orders for new 
ships beyond those that will be completed in 2010.  Given the 
lack of orders for new ships, both shipyards' representatives 
told ICAF that repair work is what is keeping them afloat 
financially. 
 
With New Orders Down, State Shipyards Compete for Repairs 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
4. (SBU) According to Mr. Lam of Saigon Ship Marine, Vinashin 
headquarters in Hanoi solicits shipbuilding contracts from 
international customers, and then assigns the projects to 
individual shipyards.  As northern shipyards have better 
technology, according to both Mr. Lam and Mr. Hung of the VSIA, 
they receive more orders than southern yards.  Individual 
Vinashin shipyards are free to solicit repair work, however, and 
competition for ship repair contracts has become fierce, 
according to Mr. Lam, as ship owners shop around for the best 
deals.  Touring the repair sheds of Saigon Ship Marine, ICAF 
members commented on the low level of repair work they observed, 
consisting primarily of hull refurbishing and engine 
replacement, with no capacity to rebuild engines or upgrade 
electrical systems. 
 
Province Opposes State-Owned Shipyard on Environmental Grounds 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
5. (SBU) Conflicting central government and local priorities are 
hampering expansion of the state-owned shipbuilding sector in 
southern provinces.  High-ranking Vinashin officials such as Mr. 
Do Thanh Hung, a member of the Vinashin Business Group's Board 
of Directors, told ICAF that realizing Vinashin's strategic plan 
to become the world's fourth largest shipbuilder by 2020 will 
require building new and upgrading existing shipyards.  Yet 
Chairman of the Ba Ria Vung Tau (BRVT) Provincial People's 
Committee Mr. Tran Minh Sanh, held a more circumspect view of 
Vinashin's ambitions.  Although a complex of state of the art 
port facilities under construction in the province will render 
BRVT Vietnam's shipping gateway to the world (Reftel), Mr. Sanh 
told ICAF that "shipbuilding was not a major part of the 
province's development plan."  He noted repeatedly that the 
province had not agreed to Hanoi's proposal to locate a 
state-owned shipyard in the province because of concerns that 
the project would not operate in an "environmentally sustainable 
manner." 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000396  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
Private Sector Shipyard Giving Overflow Work Away 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
6. (SBU) Majority owned by private Vietnamese investors, the 
congested but well-equipped Vung Tau Repair Shipyard 90 
kilometers from HCMC is booked solid for months in advance with 
ship repair contracts.  As Deputy General Director Mr. Luu 
Phuong led the ICAF delegation through the overcrowded facility, 
he pointed out numerous specialty lathes, borers and other state 
of the art repair equipment "found at no other shipyard in 
Vietnam."  He noted that because this equipment allows him to 
rebuild engines as well as service propeller shafts on specialty 
vessels such as oil rig service ships, his is the repair 
shipyard of choice for international ship owners.  He told ICAF 
he typically refers his overflow of nine to ten major repair 
jobs a year to a military shipyard in HCMC.  Major expansion 
plans are on hold, however, because of difficulties in obtaining 
capital. 
 
International Sector Building Most Advanced Boats in Vietnam 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
7. (SBU) Open only three months, Australian shipbuilder 
Strategic Marine has developed the workplace culture, 
highly-skilled labor force and state of the art equipment that 
allow it to exploit highly profitable niche markets.  The expat 
General Manager described the above average wages, emphasis on 
safety (each of the 2,500 workers receives first aid training), 
and numerous perquisites, including free health care for 
workers' families that that make Strategic Marine the 
shipbuilding "employer of choice".  Bar codes on workers' badges 
specify skill sets, be they project manager, naval architect or 
aluminum welder, many of whom Strategic Marine has sent for 
training overseas.  Unaffected by the economic downturn, the 
shipyard is constructing 40 specialized high speed aluminum 
craft for military or off shore oil support use in Singapore, 
Nigeria, and New Zealand, and has orders for dozens more. 
 
8. (SBU) ICAF faculty ended their visit with mixed views on both 
Vinashin's accomplishments to date and the firm's future 
prospects.  They questioned the viability of Vinashin's stated 
goal of becoming the world's fourth largest shipbuilder by 2020. 
 In fact, they attributed Vinashin's recent rapid growth more to 
its coincidence with a global shortage of shipbuilding capacity 
than to any inherent competitive advantage.  (Note: Vinashin 
enjoyed averaged annual revenue increases of 140 percent from 
2003-2007, which catapulted Vietnam from 14th to 7th among the 
world's shipbuilders.  End Note.)  Faced with a five year wait 
for a Korean vessel back in 2006, shippers contracted with 
marginal shipyards they normally wouldn't have dealt with.  Now 
that the boom is over, Vinashin appears stuck in a default niche 
of constructing five to 20,000 DWT vessels which major 
international shipbuilders "no longer consider worth their 
while", said one ICAF faculty member. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
9. (SBU) The contrasts between that state owned and private 
shipyards visited by ICAF are striking.  Importing virtually all 
inputs, from propellers to fog horns, while contributing 
primarily labor, Vinashin's HCMC shipyards resemble Vietnam's 
low-value added garment industry.  Conversely, Strategic 
Marine's production of customized aluminum vessels, individually 
designed for various international clients, resembles custom 
manufacturing more than traditional shipbuilding.  Shipbuilding 
has a future in southern Vietnam, but it more likely lies with 
the innovative private sector than with the under-capitalized 
and centrally-directed Vinashin plants.  End comment. 
 
10. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. 
DICKEY