Deputy head of Vinamarine, Nguyen Hoang, said after noticing that the number of ships held in custody is on the rise, Vinamarine, together with the Vietnam Register (VR), have applied comprehensive measures to prevent Vietnamese ships from returning to the Tokyo MOU's 'black list', the Hellenic Shipping News reported.
A report showed that the Vietnamese fleet comprises 462 ships running on international routes with the capacity of 500 GT and higher. In the first quarter of 2017, 214 ships were examined at international ports and 10, or 4.67 per cent, were held in custody because of several problems.
The proportion was higher than the 3.55 per cent of the same period of 2014 and 2.77 per cent of 2015. In 2016, the figure was 4.04 per cent.
Of the 20 ships, six were held in custody in China, two in Malaysia, one in Indonesia and one in Fiji.
The ships were found to have problems relating to fire prevention and fire fighting, lifebuoy equipment, the vessels' watertight and weathertight conditions, systems used in case of emergency, maritime safety and ship management systems.
Most of the ships held in custody were in China and South East Asia and were general cargo ships built 5-10 years in Vietnam. Prior to 2014, the Vietnamese fleet was put on the black list and was subjected to strict control by port authorities.
In 2015-2016, after great efforts, the Vietnamese fleet running on international routes escaped from the black list and was put by Tokyo MOU on the 'white list'.
During that time, very few Vietnamese ships were held in custody, which helped ships escape from regular strict examination by foreign port authorities.
According to Tokyo MOU's rules, if a member country has a proportion of ships held in custody exceeding a certain threshold, the fleet of the country will be excluded from the white list and put on the black list.
According to Mr Hoang, in principle, the ships must have their problems fixed before leaving ports.
Ship owners suffer huge losses, in the region of tens of thousands of dollars, if their ships are held in custody having to spend money to fix the problems, and invite register agencies to re-examine the vessels.
A report showed that the Vietnamese fleet comprises 462 ships running on international routes with the capacity of 500 GT and higher. In the first quarter of 2017, 214 ships were examined at international ports and 10, or 4.67 per cent, were held in custody because of several problems.
The proportion was higher than the 3.55 per cent of the same period of 2014 and 2.77 per cent of 2015. In 2016, the figure was 4.04 per cent.
Of the 20 ships, six were held in custody in China, two in Malaysia, one in Indonesia and one in Fiji.
The ships were found to have problems relating to fire prevention and fire fighting, lifebuoy equipment, the vessels' watertight and weathertight conditions, systems used in case of emergency, maritime safety and ship management systems.
Most of the ships held in custody were in China and South East Asia and were general cargo ships built 5-10 years in Vietnam. Prior to 2014, the Vietnamese fleet was put on the black list and was subjected to strict control by port authorities.
In 2015-2016, after great efforts, the Vietnamese fleet running on international routes escaped from the black list and was put by Tokyo MOU on the 'white list'.
During that time, very few Vietnamese ships were held in custody, which helped ships escape from regular strict examination by foreign port authorities.
According to Tokyo MOU's rules, if a member country has a proportion of ships held in custody exceeding a certain threshold, the fleet of the country will be excluded from the white list and put on the black list.
According to Mr Hoang, in principle, the ships must have their problems fixed before leaving ports.
Ship owners suffer huge losses, in the region of tens of thousands of dollars, if their ships are held in custody having to spend money to fix the problems, and invite register agencies to re-examine the vessels.