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The GALILEAN 7 tanker was towed to the DQS dry dock on October 15. Water will be drawn after the ship enters the dock so that workers can begin repairs. – Photo: DUY LINH
In the Central region these days there were erratic rains and storms, the flow under the sea also changed immeasurably, making towing a ship carrying up to 2 million barrels of crude oil a great challenge.
He took the second test, after more than 3 hours, and mobilized 8 tugboats and hundreds of workers and pilots to put the tanker more than 334 m long and 58 m wide in dry dock.
“Just a few more hours later I don’t know what will happen. The currents are so strong, sometimes the boat of several hundred thousand tons is pushed horizontally, so we have to crawl towards the sea, waiting for a more favorable climate. Nguyen Anh Minh, deputy general manager of Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company (DQS), spoke about putting a giant tanker called GALILEAN 7 on the dock of Dung Quat port on October 15.
The contract this time is like a bell signaling to the world that we, Vietnam, have the capacity, from humans to dry docks, to receive and repair large ships.
Mr. NGUYEN ANH MINH (Deputy Managing Director of Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company)
Two years of pure negotiation
When things came in, many DQS workers had time to look at the ship that was taller than the 10-story building, not to mention its 5-story deck. This was the first time they received such a large ship, even in the tough times of the global economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Getting the ship to dock for partial repair and returning it from abroad to Vietnam remains overwhelmingly difficult. Recalling his memories, Mr. Minh said that the process of negotiating and obtaining a contract to convert the ship back to DQS took up to 2 years, sometimes he thought he had to give up.
The investor, who owns many oil drilling platforms in Africa, wants to convert GALILEAN 7 into floating storage at sea (to sell directly to ships purchased at sea). Even though it is only a conversion part, DQS has to continue with the project from the process in which the investor seeks to buy a suitable boat for their commercial purposes.
A DQS contract negotiation session with the investor hiring all European companies as consultants – Photo: DQS
Mr. Minh had to fly back and forth, to Africa, not only to convince billionaire investor Ben, but also to demonstrate his competence with the European consulting firms hired by Mr. Ben. Vietnamese competitors were then Chinese companies with more capital, larger dry landfills and more integrated supply chains.
The persistence of the negotiator and the experience of building dozens of great ships in Vietnam, in addition to the transparent and honest records of DQS have convinced the African billionaire who likes to eat sauteed water spinach and his special feelings. for Vietnam.
“If a billionaire buys a ship in the Middle East instead of South Korea, perhaps the chances of winning a bid for DQS are lower due to the distance to Vietnam. Although he is a rich millionaire, Mr. Ben is very careful with the money. by doing business, he negotiated the costs of each item, for every dollar, while converting to thousands of items “- Mr. Minh explained the difficulties because many people said that doing business with African billionaires would be easy for others countries.
Hit the world
GALILEAN 7, a tanker larger than a US aircraft carrier, is now in the dry dock of Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company. The ship will undergo a “molting” process for more than five months before being transported to Africa.
The conversion of the GALILEAN 7 vessel will consist of two phases. The first phase starts from when the ship goes into dry dock until the end of December this year. The ship was then towed to anchor at sea, waiting until February 2021 to receive and install special equipment ordered from abroad because it is specialized products, only made to order. row.
The GALILEAN 7 tanker was towed to the DQS dry dock on October 15 – Photo: DL
GALILEAN 7 is classified as Suezmax, a maritime term used to refer to vessels whose size reaches the maximum limit to pass through the Suez Canal.
Just winning the contract to convert the GALILEAN 7 ships, according to Mr. Minh, has caused many Middle Eastern and African companies to knock on DQS ‘door to inquire about the possibility of bringing their ships to Dung Quat.
If regulations on temporary import and re-export are relaxed, Mr. Minh believes that the competitive advantage of DQS in particular and of Vietnamese shipbuilding companies in general over foreign competitors will increase significantly.
This is the first time that the DQS repair dock has received a large ship that conforms to its technical design. With a length of 380m, a width of 86m, the DQS dry dock can accommodate 450,000 ton ships, the largest in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, only Singapore has the same type.
Standing on the dock, engineer Nam showed that the contracts of nearly 500 DQS people were “complete” until the middle of next year. “The job skills of our brothers are very good, enough to match the companies in the region” – said engineer Nam proudly.
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