The profession of 'dissecting' old and dilapidated ships, selling scrap and spare parts in Nghe An

Present at the old boat purchasing facility in Dien Ngoc commune, districtDien ChauWe saw on the shore of Lach Van many old and dilapidated trawlers and dredgers, big and small, had been "dissected" by the owners of the establishments, removing all the spare parts, leaving only empty "bodies" of the boats.

Mr. Hoang Van Minh - the owner of a facility specializing in purchasing old boats in Ngoc Minh hamlet, Dien Ngoc commune (Dien Chau) shared: We purchase old boats from coastal areas of Dien Chau, Hoang Mai town, and even from Thanh Hoa province. Old boats are purchased for 100-300 million VND, and usable ones cost up to 450 million VND.

After bringing it back, the team of workers began dismantling the cockpit, main wooden mast, and internal parts of the hull, and finally the hull. Each ship, depending on its size, took 10-12 days to disassemble.

Workers had to crawl into the ship's compartments and fish holds, using cutters and drills to cut nails and bolts, and trying to chisel screws to disassemble the wooden panels that were tightly sealed and glued together.

After dissecting the old boat, the craftsman dismantles all the components, spare parts, and machinery, selecting the ones that can be used to maintain and sell to fishermen; the ones that cannot be used are sold as scrap. The remains of each boat are sold for 4-8 million VND.

Observing the spare parts warehouse of old boats, we see many disassembled components, from engines to fishing gear, buoys, nets...

Mr. Hoang Van Minh added: A 30CV dredging boat engine can be repaired, maintained and sold for 3-4 million VND/engine, while a new engine costs 14-15 million VND/engine. The propellers that are often damaged are often bought by fishermen, the price here is only 20 million VND/unit, while the price of a new propeller is very high, from 70-80 million VND/unit.

This job is profitable, creating jobs for family members. After deducting expenses, each boat can make a profit of 8-10 million VND - Mr. Minh said.

Mr. Tran Nam, a local fisherman, shared: “Since the establishment of a facility selling used spare parts for boats here, fishermen have found it very convenient. Every time their boats come back from sea and are severely or slightly damaged, they have spare parts at a “soft” price to replace them. Buying new parts is very expensive.”

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa - Chairman of Dien Ngoc Commune People's Committee said: Dien Ngoc Commune currently has 3 establishments that buy old ships and boats. In recent years, due to difficulties in seafood exploitation, high costs of seagoing materials, and many loss-making voyages, more than 30 old ships and boats have been sold to this establishment by local people.

Thanks to these facilities, fishermen can easily buy old, cheap spare parts to replace damaged parts after each sea trip.

However, the current difficulty is that there is no place for purchasing facilities to gather old and dilapidated boats, so old and dilapidated boats have to be left along Lach Van fishing port mixed with other fishing boats.

Through research, in Quynh Luu district, there are currently over 800 large and small boats, but there is only 1 boat repair facility in Quynh Nghia commune. The remaining old and dilapidated boats are sold annually to facilities in Dien Chau, from 25-30 old and dilapidated fishing boats of all kinds.

A representative of the Nghe An Fisheries Department said: Nghe An has a coastline of over 82 km in the localities of Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai town, Dien Chau, Cua Lo town, of which the whole province has over 3,300 boats of all kinds. Before 2010, Nghe An had over 25 establishments for building and repairing boats, now there are only 9 establishments remaining but operating at a low level. These establishments mainly repair and upgrade old fishing boats. For very old and dilapidated boats, fishermen liquidate about 80-100 boats every year, selling them to establishments that purchase old boats, mainly concentrated in Dien Chau district.