Vietnam is attempting to reduce marine accidents and better ensure marine safety to develop the maritime economy. (Photo: baoquocte.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam is attempting to reduce marine accidentsand better ensure marine safety to develop the maritime economy.
The country is a regional hub with more than 100,000 domestic and internationalvessels coming in and out of domestic seaports each year, and that number is onthe rise.
It is reported that 107 marine accidents have occurred in the nation’s territorialwaters over the past five years, more than half caused by collisions.
The data was released at a workshop held in Hanoi on October 10 by the VietnamMaritime Administration and the British Embassy.
The workshop, financed by the UK – Vietnam bilateral fund under the UK’sForeign and Commonwealth Office, aimed to improve the capacity of 50participants from both central and local-level maritime authorised agencies forefficient investigations of marine accidents.
Speaking at the workshop, deputy director of the administration Nguyen Hoang saidhe appreciated the workshop because it presented tools, including simulatoroperations, and applications to reconstruct marine accidents based on 3Dscenes.
The workshop also provided skills to investigate marine accidents via casestudies, Hoang said.
Finding the causes of marine accidents was very important because based on thecauses, managerial agencies could issue appropriate measures to prevent similaraccidents in the future, he added.
Gareth Ward, British Ambassador to Vietnam, said Vietnam had a coastline ofover 3,000km and was the centre of trade in the region, so it had a complexmaritime situation.
One of the objectives for Vietnam now was to use new technology to reduce thenumber of accidents, he said.
British technology in the area of analysing accidents and preventing accidentsat sea was leading the way, he said.
As the lead trainer for the workshop, Dr Phil Thompson from simulation andtraining business BMT Group said simulator operation was now considered themodern way to maximise the use of state-of-the-art digital tools for accidentinvestigations.
With its long coastline of 3,260km and geographical proximity to regionalmaritime hubs and international maritime routes, Vietnam is believed to havegreat potential for maritime economic development./.
VNA
