P&I insurance activities for Vietnamese shipping companies

- Increase the volume of inspections, especially at periodic surveys, for older ships, ships with limited technical condition, oil tankers, bulk carriers and ships carrying dangerous goods; establish a list of ships at high risk of detention/ships with limited technical condition, notify shipowners and surveyors to pay special attention to these ships.

- The Vietnam Register should fully update the list of inspection periods, new regulations of international treaties and instructions on applying these regulations to each ship, notify ship owners in writing and via the website of the Vietnam Register.

- Reassess or supplement the safety and security management system in accordance with the provisions of the ISM Code and the ISPS Code for ships that are detained, accidents caused by human factors and companies that have ships that have accidents, incidents or have had many ships detained during the year. Notify companies of incompetent or irresponsible officers and crew when there is sufficient evidence.

3.2. Vietnam Maritime Administration

- Require Maritime Port Authorities to inspect ships detained at foreign seaports as soon as they arrive at Vietnamese seaports and require the ships to correct any remaining defects.

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- Ensure that 100% of Vietnamese ships operating on international routes are inspected at the appropriate time before receiving export cargo or before leaving the port for foreign ports and only grant permission to leave the port when defects detected during the inspection have been corrected. For officers and employees who do not complete their inspection tasks, allowing ships to leave the port without ensuring safety and quality, they will be punished by the management agency so that they do not repeat the offense. The punishment for these employees must be carried out properly, not just as a formality because it is an important violation. If 1% of ships are not inspected, it can still cause serious consequences.

affecting the entire Vietnamese fleet, causing our following ships to be more strictly controlled at foreign ports and will be made difficult, affecting the operations of the ships.

- Strengthen the dissemination and popularization of the contents and requirements of port state inspection of the International Maritime Organization IMO and Tokyo MOU to ship management companies, officers and crew of ships through seminars or sending experts to each shipping line to disseminate and help raise the awareness of ship owners in ensuring the safety of their fleet.

- The Maritime Administration needs to coordinate with training facilities for officers and crew members to improve the content and training programs; update international maritime laws; improve specialized English proficiency so that training can achieve better results, providing the market with high-quality crew members.

III. Recommendations

We know that there are many reasons that affect the participation of Vietnamese ship owners in P&I insurance. In addition to the solutions mentioned above for ship owners, insurance companies and some functional agencies related to maritime activities; to improve the operation of this type of insurance, I would like to boldly make some other recommendations as follows:

a. The State shall soon complete the legal framework to promote the development of shipowners' civil liability insurance. Entities participating in activities in Vietnam must comply with Vietnamese law. For insurance activities in the international maritime sector, it is necessary to comply with international laws, so unification between domestic and international laws is necessary for entities to easily implement.

b. One of the reasons for high insurance premiums is that the Vietnamese fleet is old, causing a high loss rate. Therefore, fleet renewal is really necessary. For ships that have been operating on international routes for many years and are no longer safe enough, ship owners can switch to domestic routes to control operations more easily. Furthermore, ship owners should not be too frugal and buy very old foreign ships, which will increase the average age of the fleet but not ensure safety. In addition, authorities should also have policies to help shipping companies financially to rejuvenate the fleet, helping to reduce the average age of the entire Vietnamese fleet.

c. Vietnamese ship owners face many difficulties because they cannot directly participate in P&I insurance at the Associations but must go through insurance companies in Vietnam. Therefore, the state needs to have forms of encouragement for the establishment of the mutual insurance company model so that ship owners are better aware of their responsibilities in ensuring the quality and safety of their ships. Besides, ship owners do not have to suffer as many disadvantages as now and get better services. However, when there is no mutual insurance company model in Vietnam, ship owners can boldly participate directly in international Associations to enjoy more benefits through the efforts of the company itself such as:

- Companies that want to participate directly in the International P&I Association must first have a specialized department in the insurance field. Those working in this department must have a thorough understanding of marine insurance activities in general and P&I insurance in particular, related legal documents and especially be fluent in English to be able to work directly with the Association, understand the regulations issued by the Association and apply them accurately to their company's operations.

- Vietnamese shipping companies are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises with weak financial resources, so they only insure a few large ships through insurance companies located in the same country, so it is easier to arrange premium payments and receive assistance from insurance companies. When participating in international associations, the regulations on premium payment are more strict in terms of both time and quantity, so companies will be easily terminated by the association. Therefore, shipping companies need to develop more economically to be able to participate in international P&I associations more easily.

- Reputation with international P&I Clubs is also very important. In the past, some Vietnamese ships have left bad impressions due to their haphazard and fragmented business practices, affecting the operations of the following ships. The reputation of the fleet in the international market or a low loss rate will help ship owners feel secure when applying to join the Club because the Club can refuse insurance without disclosing the reason. Therefore, shipping companies need to determine a clear and reputable business direction and especially need to thoroughly apply safety measures to minimize the loss rate, which is also a factor highly appreciated by international P&I Clubs.

d. English is a real need for both insurance officers and shipping company employees. Those with many years of experience in the insurance and transportation fields are mostly older, so their English is not good. Insurance companies and shipping companies can cooperate with English centers to teach their employees, both to encourage the spirit of employees and to create opportunities for employees to improve their foreign languages for better integration. As for new, young employees, when recruiting, companies should directly test foreign language proficiency, not just evaluate through degrees to ensure a quality human resource, good at both expertise and foreign languages.

e. The establishment of the Vietnam Insurance Association in 1999 marked an important step in the development of the Vietnamese insurance industry. This is a common home, a common voice expressing the cooperation of insurance companies. The Insurance Association plays an important role in linking the activities of insurance companies. Therefore, the Association needs to have activities to promote the market to develop more and more.

+ The Association should expand the scope of cooperation between insurance companies providing P&I insurance services to be able to provide solutions for market development and healthier competition.

+ The Association can organize seminars or training courses for insurance officers to help improve their skills to help the market operate better.

+ Information is very important for the market. In the Vietnamese insurance market, the main source of information is self-discovery by insurance companies and is not public; whoever has information operates. Therefore, competition in the market is not healthy. The Association should promote its role as a common voice for insurance companies and ship owners, updating domestic and international market information so that all parties can grasp the information, helping to operate more effectively.

CONCLUDE

The thesis can draw the following conclusions:

1. The participation in P&I insurance of Vietnamese shipping companies has tended to increase in recent years. The primary reason for this increase is that the fleet is growing in both quantity and quality, so the demand for insurance is increasing. However, it is impossible not to note the increase in awareness of the importance of P&I insurance among ship owners. With favorable conditions for economic development in the coming years and the strong participation of insurance companies in the field of P&I insurance, the P&I insurance market in Vietnam will certainly develop further.

2. However, the P&I insurance market in Vietnam still faces many difficulties, including subjective reasons from shipping companies, insurance companies and objective reasons from agencies and ministries. The main reasons limiting the market's operations are the old fleet, poor quality and weaknesses in the operations of both shipping companies and insurance companies.

3. To limit these shortcomings, it is necessary to have the efforts of all relevant parties, helping each other to apply effective solutions to help the market operate better. Ship owners need to raise awareness and be proactive in ensuring safety for the fleet. For insurance companies, in a time of strong market competition, it is necessary to promote advantages, overcome difficulties to operate more effectively. As for ministries and branches, it is necessary to create conditions with a complete and open legal corridor as a lubricant for market operations.

REFERENCES

I. Vietnamese

1. Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Chau (2006), Insurance textbook in business . Social Labor Publishing House, Hanoi.

2. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hong Dam (ch.b), Professor, Dr. Hoang Van Chau, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Nhu Tien, Dr. Vu Sy Tuan (2005), Transportation and delivery in foreign trade, Political Theory Publishing House, Hanoi.

3. Duong Huu Hanh (2004), International transportation - freight forwarding and marine insurance, Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi.

4. Tran Thuy Ha (2005), Hull insurance and shipowner liability at Vietnam Insurance Corporation, Graduation thesis - Foreign Trade University, Hanoi.

5. Phung Dac Loc, MSc. Hoang Manh Cuong (2007), Non-life insurance handbook, Vietnam Insurance Association, Hanoi.

6. Phung Dac Loc (2006), Vietnam's insurance market when joining the WTO, Vietnam Insurance - Reinsurance Magazine, No. 4, November 2006, Hanoi.

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8. Dang Giang Huong (2006b), P&I insurance market has steady development, Vietnam Insurance - Reinsurance Market Magazine No. 3, August 2006, pp. 3-6, Hanoi.

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13. Dang Giang Huong (2010), P&I renewal season 2009 - 2010, Vietnam Insurance - Reinsurance Market Magazine No. 1, February 2010, pages 25-28, Hanoi.

14. Tran Thai Phuong (2005), Vietnam Marine Insurance Market in 2004, Vietnam Insurance - Reinsurance Market Magazine No. 1, January 2005, pp. 13 - 16, Hanoi.

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Vietnam Insurance and Reinsurance Magazine, No. 2, April 2005, Hanoi

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