HÀ NỘI — An inspection carried out by an independent team on the quality of steel fishing ships built under a Government decree revealed that ship-building companies used substandard components for a number of ships, resulting in frequent breakdowns and degradation.

Trần Văn Phúc, vice director of the Bình Định Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development who headed the inspection, announced the findings at a meeting on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc requested an inspection in 27 coastal provinces to examine the new steel fishing boats, after fishermen complained that poor quality fishing vessels were preventing them from fishing offshore.

Phúc said that as the inspection was going on, seven vessel owners asked to withdraw their complaint petition after working with the representative of Nam Triệu Ship Building Company. However, in order to arrive at accurate conclusions about the quality of the vessels, the inspection team still examined 17 vessels built by Nam Triệu Company and Đại Nguyên Dương Company.

Five steel fishing vessels built by Đại Nguyên Dương Company were made of steel originating from China and 12 steel fishing vessels operated by Nam Triệu Company had their bodies made of steel from Korea. On-site inspections of the 17 ships revealed that the painting on the hulls of five ships had peeled off.

Nine main engines were found to have been made by the Japanese’s Mitsubishi Company, but a number of other related components were not in line with Mitsubishi’s operation principles. The company issued a document saying it does not make engines of the model and power stated in the engines found on the ships.

Most of these main engines are not working properly, the report said.

In 14 of the 17 ships inspected, the fish storage tanks were working improperly, with water stuck in them and the temperate-maintaining capacity insufficient.

The inspection team also found that ship quality inspectors had not properly checked the origins and quality certificates of the engines and other components before the vessels were handed over to their owners.

Compensation

The inspection team has asked Nam Triệu Company to replace 10 main engines and provide evidence of the components’ synchrony. The Nam Triệu and Đại Nguyên Dương companies were also asked to clean the surface of the ships’ hull and repaint part or all of the ships in accordance with the process of maintaining steel shell ships.

The two companies will also have to repair or renew the damaged storage system due to its inadequate drainage and check for corrosion in the inner shell, and replace electricity systems on three ships in accordance with the signed contracts.

The group also asked Nam Triệu and Đại Nguyên Dương companies to provide full documentation on the ships’ hulls, engines and marine equipment, and clear terms of warranty. — VNS