It is reported that financially troubled Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group has been forced to hand over Dung Quat shipyard to PetroVietnam where it is building aframax tankers for the state oil and gas firm.

Dung Quat Shipyard, with the capacity to build very large crude carriers, started operations in 2006 but is yet to deliver a single vessel. The yard is the first in Vietnam to build Aframax tankers in a series of four ships for PetroVietnam.

The first 104,000 DWT tanker was originally slated for delivery in 2008, but remains uncompleted to date. PetroVietnam took over Dung Quat yard from Vinashin last week. The state shipbuilding group is weighed down by USD 4.2 billion in debt and undergoing restructuring.

(Sourced from www.seatradeasia-online.com)