Vietnam aims to build large naval vessels with new shipyard

The new project is expected to begin operations in early 2018. It will be capable of building naval vessels with displacement of 500 to 2,000 tons and providing repair services for naval ships with displacement of up to 5,000 tons. It may also construct transport vessels of up to 70,000 DWT and repair transport ships of up to 150,000 DWT, the People’s Army Newspaper reported earlier this week.

Vietnam’s two biggest naval vessels, the Russian-made Gepard class frigates, have displacement of about 2,100 tons each.

According to an estimate in 2010, total investment of the new shipyard project is nearly VND20 trillion ($890 million). Once completed, the shipyard will be capable to compete with advanced shipyards in the region and the world, the newspaper said.

Ba Son launched two locally-built, Russian-designed Molniya-class guided missile corvettes for the Vietnamese Navy in September last year. Four Molniya-class corvettes have already been built by Vietnam to date.