Vinalines plans ambitious newbuilding programme

Bu Quoc Anh, vice president of Vinalines, said the shipowner planned to build 40 vessels in Vietnamese yards at a total cost of around $2bn. Anh said the state-owned company was looking for support from the Vietnamese government and the ministry of finance for financing of the newbuilding programme.

The focus of the newbuilding programme will be on larger sized vessels, he said. The aim is to increase the fleet in total by 6 to 7 million dwt. At present Vinalines has 150 vessels totalling 2.7 million dwt. Vinalines is also planning to acquire second-hand tonnage including VLCCs, Aframaxes and product carriers.