Saigon shipbuilder signs first export deal

The Saigon shipbuilding industry company (SSIC), a member company of the Vinashin group, has won its first ever export contract to build ten 5,190 DWT multipurpose ships.

Under the contract inked with Midland Shipping Co (MSC). of Canada, SSIC will build a ten-ship series over the next four years at a cost of just under $10 million each.

In late 2002, MSC commenced financing the development of a new type of ?river-sea? vessel using a Russian design company. Measuring 128.20m in length, 16.50m in width, and 6.10m in depth, they will be built under the supervision of a Russian inspection and registration agency. The vessels will have the ability to access remote shallow ports, at minimal loss to cargo capacity.

Midland?s Shipping current fleet of 13 ?river-sea? class vessels offers freight services in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean basin with grain being the principal cargo, although timber, fertilizers, general cargo, metal and metal scrap have also been carried. Demand for vessels, which are both fitted out to transport grain and are able to call at the shallow ports of the Azov Sea has increased dramatically.