Recently, composite tuna shell vessels of Yanmar Company (Japan) ordered testing for Vietnamese fishermen who officially launched. Is it time, composite shell ship confirms its position?

20 years ago ... people were not satisfied
Actually, the composite shell ship has been manufactured and put into use by Vietnam more than 20 years ago. In the field of offshore fishing, a number of businesses such as Bien Dong Seafood Corporation have also "taken the lead" when building composite shells for offshore fishing programs, but the ships are "beautiful." and soft ”This does not go into people's hearts. Fishermen rated it "dumb". Someone said, "down there, no seasickness is considered as a true fisherman." "Weak ... and dented" ... And expensive, more than 10 years ago composite ships were 2-3 times more expensive than wooden hulls, perhaps this is the main reason fishermen evade this new material. .
There is also one more idealistic reason is that the pioneering units with composite shell ships have not succeeded in fishing grounds. Then images of 18 composite shell ships "big struggle" sun exposure in Hon Ro port (Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa) to a hot day. Then ... it must be said frankly, the people ship is built, people are stationed, mainly in the traditional shipbuilding facilities, "the houses" stand out, so when the world of composite shell ships has become popular then in Vietnam it is still ... new. It is sad when the information about the "benefits" of the composite shell ship comes to fishermen through the way of working for foreign fishing vessels. From that information, there are fishermen looking to buy old composite shell ship "like a dream" from abroad, remodeling a little and going to sea. Nor is it successful when they come up with statistics: Oil drops by at least 10%, annual maintenance payments are near zero.

Ocean tuna fishing vessel Yanmar composite shell launched on July 28 - Photo: Tien Thanh

Can you replace a wooden ship?
At the present time the answer is definitive: Instead, it can be said that it brings outstanding economic benefits to fishermen. According to Mr. Phan Tuan Long, Deputy Director of the Institute of Shipbuilding Research (Nha Trang University), this world problem has been solved for a long time. In Asia, countries with developed fisheries choose composite materials for small and medium sized fishing vessels (with a length of less than 30 m) such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan ... Composit has the advantages of no materials available. Be as durable, inert before corrosion of seawater, easy to shape as you like. Very convenient for manufacturing for installation of modern equipment for sea fishing, catching and preservation. The cost of composite ship hulls is only about 10% higher than that of wooden ships. If the quantity is more than 10 units, the price is equivalent to a wooden boat, due to the cost reduction when using the template again. Fishing vessels with composite shells can also be called "non-sinking fishing vessels" because the design is divided into enclosed compartments. In case of breach of 1-2 vessel compartments still in operation, if flipped, thanks to the closed compartments, lightweight materials should still float like a buoy for fishermen to cling to, increase survival ability in the risk of accidents .
The "weak ... shaking" problem is also solved through the design to weight the ships equivalent to wooden ships. For impact resistance, designers used a local reinforcement solution to increase impact resistance in critical locations (such as ships, bow, starboard, etc.). Overcoming the problem of input prices and dignity, composite shell vessels will have a better advantage in the following points: Durability over 30 years, very low maintenance costs. Composite hulls can design the most suitable line to reduce water resistance, increase the stability of the vessel, so that it has an average speed of 15 - 20% higher than that of wooden casing, the cost of oil also decreases. corresponding. Compositr materials are also easy to calculate, such as wood, with small damages, even small fishermen can repair themselves on the sea.
The clear advantages from composite materials coupled with the increasingly scarce shipbuilding wood material, the time of small and medium vessels (less than 30 meters long) of the composite shell is probably approaching.
>> According to Mr. Phan Tuan Long, the most difficult thing in composite shipbuilding is to manufacture molds, which must be done at enterprises, with high professional facilities, if transferring molds (using many times) of the remaining jobs. more than 85% of the value of traditional shipbuilding facilities can be handled.