Redefining the position of the shipbuilding industry

Information about the tugboat named RSD-E 2513 by the Damen Song Cam consortium (a unit with capital contributed by Song Cam Shipbuilding Joint Stock Company) that has just won the Guinness record for "The world's strongest electric tugboat" can be considered one of the bright spots, bringing new hope to the domestic shipbuilding industry - a field that was once expected to be one of the pillars of marine economic development.

Information about the tugboat named RSD-E 2513 by the Damen Song Cam consortium (a unit with capital contributed by Song Cam Shipbuilding Joint Stock Company) that has just won the Guinness record for " The world's strongest electric tugboat" can be considered one of the bright spots, bringing new hope to the domestic shipbuilding industry - a field that was once expected to be one of the pillars of marine economic development.

It should be added that, after a period of rapid development (2001 - 2010), Vietnam's shipbuilding industry is in a very difficult period when it has to thoroughly restructure the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (SBIC) in the direction of bankrupting the parent company - SBIC and 7 subsidiaries.

Although it is at the bottom of the development cycle, in 2024, Vietnam will still rank 7th in the world with a 0.61% share of the global shipbuilding market, surpassing even the "big" and famous shipbuilders like Finland (0.36%, 8th place).

Besides SBIC (which is still a capable shipbuilding and repair complex, accounting for over 50% of the country's shipbuilding capacity), Vietnam also has 87 shipbuilding enterprises and 411 inland waterway vehicle building facilities.

This is a valuable asset accumulated by the shipbuilding industry over the past 20 years with many successes and great lessons.

Meanwhile, with the development of global trade, Vietnam's maritime transport demand is forecast to increase sharply (about 10%/year in the period 2025 - 2030). In this context, the goal of the Vietnamese fleet is to strive to increase its market share in import-export transport, while taking on 100% of domestic transport demand.

It is forecasted that the total demand for new construction, additions and replacements to Vietnam's maritime transport fleet from now until 2030 will be about 4 - 5 million DWT, an average of about 0.7 - 0.8 million DWT/year (including the number of newly built ships and replacements of old fleets).

Globally, the growth rate of new shipbuilding orders is increasing, with this figure in 2024 being 220.52 billion USD (growth of 6.5% compared to 2023). The forecast size of the shipbuilding market in the period 2024 - 2028 is estimated to increase by 22.1 billion USD, with an average growth rate of about 3.95%/year and reach about 195 billion USD in 2030.

Most of the new fleets being built in the coming time will have to follow the trend of being more modern, with larger tonnage to meet the increasing demand for green technology conversion and the use of clean fuel. Obviously, this will be an opportunity for the world's shipbuilding industry, including Vietnam.

To seize this unique opportunity, from now on, state management agencies, including the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, need to promptly research and propose solutions to improve the capacity of domestic shipbuilding enterprises in order to support, maintain and develop shipbuilding enterprises.

Accordingly, the immediate task is to review and specifically evaluate the current activities of the shipbuilding industry, focusing on aspects such as business operations; capacity and qualifications of human resources and workers; training, fostering and attracting workers; investment in research and development; current mechanisms and policies for the shipbuilding industry...

This is the basis for proposing specific goals and "correct and accurate" orientations to improve and enhance the existing capacity of the shipbuilding industry, as well as expand the scale of new shipbuilding enterprises in the coming time.

Similar to many other mechanical engineering fields, the shipbuilding industry is a heavy industry. If it wants to develop, it must invest in large infrastructure, along with a set of breakthrough mechanisms and policies. In particular, it is necessary to soon form a national shipbuilding corporation to receive and effectively exploit the facilities, technical infrastructure and skilled labor force of SBIC, while playing a leading role in developing the shipbuilding industry and leading other industries to develop together.

This is the premise for the Vietnamese shipbuilding industry to seize opportunities, redefine its position, thereby contributing to the successful implementation of the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Vietnam's Marine Economy to 2030, with a vision to 2045.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/dinh-lai-vi-the-nganh-dong-tau-d254400.html