Hanoi (VNA) - The COVID-19 pandemic led to a downturn in globalsupply chains and demand for goods transport, which hit maritime shipping andshipbuilding hard worldwide. The Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company Ltd(DQS), however, may be the exception, having received a host of orders locally andoverseas this year.

Opportunities in difficulties

The disease outbreak triggered a major reduction in demand for goods globally,while production was frozen and maritime vessels forbidden from sailing duringthe social distancing period. Halted operations at seaports and manufacturingplants coupled with tumbling oil prices and lower demand for energy saw the oilcarrier fleets of many companies also cease working or only workingperfunctorily.

Against the trend, DQS saw orders from Vietnamese and foreign customerspile up.


On June 24, the FPU Dai Hung - 01 oil rig, belonging to the PetroVietnamExploration Production Corporation (PVEP - POC), was towed to the company’sdock for maintenance. The only semi-submersible structure in Vietnam, the oilrig is 108.2 metres long and 67.36 metres wide with capacity reaching 9,880tonnes. DQS is set to clean all of its immersed sections during the maintenance,which will last for only two and a half months.


Despite being a subsidiary of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group(PetroVietnam), DQS had to bid for the contract and prove its capacity. It had performedan overhaul of the FPU Dai Hung - 01 before, in 2014. In May 2015, it completedwork ten days earlier than scheduled, saving 3 million USD for its client.


DQS’s foreign orders doubled those of the two previous years taken togetherin the early months of 2020 - the result of its longstanding efforts and the assistanceof PetroVietnam.    

Overcoming difficulties and seekingcustomers

According to Nguyen Anh Minh, DQS Vice Director, since 2017 thecompany’s executive board and council members have prepared the necessary conditionsto reach overseas markets, including quickly completing paperwork for the DungQuat dock to berth foreign vessels and building a network of agents connectingwith foreign customers, particularly those with oil tankers and containerships.

When COVID-19 broke out, DQS leaders sat down to discuss differentscenarios, including the worst-case. They agreed to maintain production at allcosts and established a reasonable price framework. As such, even during thepandemic, the company took in foreign ships to repair, with crew membersquarantined onboard.

Understanding that closed borders meant a shortage of materials, DQSpromptly purchased enough for a number of projects.

Minh said foreign ship owners often bring experts the first time theyuse DQS’s services, but trust increases after that and the number of expertsdecreased, reducing the pressure on COVID-19 quarantine.

In the latest news, following the arrival of the Dai Hung oil rig, DQSwill receive a Panama-flagged Guyanese Light Patrol vessel, and in the secondquarter will take in a Marshall Islands-flagged ship.


DQS was established in 2006 as amember of Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and was transferred tobecome part of the PetroVietnam in July 2010. Right from the start, the companyhas focused on building its management system and human resources to offerqualified shipbuilding and repair services./.