By the beginning of December, organisations and individuals in Da Nang had registered to build a total of 182 steel-hulled fishing boats in accordance with a fisheries development policy decree approved by the central government on 7 July.   Under the decree, Vietnamese fishermen can access loans from the government’s 10 trillion VND credit package to build new steel-hulled and high-capacity wooden-hulled fishing boats, or to increase the capacity of existing ones. 

A wooden-hulled fishing boat under construction

However, many local fishermen still prefer to build wooden-hulled fishing boats rather than steel-hulled ones for several reasons.  Some worry whether the quality of steel used for building this type of vessel is good enough, and the installation of new machinery in steel-hulled boats is too expensive.  Also, steel-hulled boats find it harder to use the city’s Tho Quang fishing wharf.

According to the central government’s decree, organisations and individuals can only enjoy the loan benefits if they build new steel-hulled boats according to the free-of-charge common design developed by the central government.  If local fishermen want to design their own boats to ensure they are suitable for their particular fishing activities, they will need to spend at least 100 million VND, and take at least 3 months, to build to their own designs.