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By Park Jae-hyuk
Shipbuilders might have to pay significant amounts of money to their clients in compensation for late vessel deliveries, due to the indefinite delay of the arrival of some 1,100 Vietnamese welders in Korea originally planned for the fourth quarter, according to industry officials, Monday.
The shipbuilding welders are reportedly being reviewed by the Vietnamese authorities, as several local brokers in the Southeast Asian country were found to have fabricated documents for some of the workers.
Domestic subcontractors have been asking brokers in other countries to look for qualified foreign workers, ever since the Korean government eased rules on the E-7 class visa in April to resolve a labor shortage in the shipbuilding industry by allowing more foreign welders, painters, electrical engineers and plant engineers to work for subcontractors of local shipbuilders.
For foreign shipbuilding welders to hold an E-7 visa, they need at least two years of professional work experience after getting their licenses. They should also pass the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association's (KOSHIPA) review performed in their home country.
Unlicensed brokers, however, have been causing various problems, submitting documents belatedly to the authorities and introducing unqualified workers to Korean companies.
In response, the Vietnamese labor ministry warned the country's workers about scams targeting high-skilled workers looking for jobs in Korea.
KOSHIPA also reportedly warned its members in August against working with unlicensed brokers.
Despite their warnings, nothing has changed, according to the subcontractors.
In addition, unionized shipbuilding workers of Korean nationality claimed that their foreign peers commonly leave their jobs, due to the poor screening of their documents.
As a result, around 420 subcontractors of the nation's five largest shipbuilders are said to have urged the governments of Korea and Vietnam to come up with countermeasures against the problem.
There is also speculation that the situation has been worsened since the recent disappearance of dozens of Vietnamese tourists, who arrived in Korea via Yangyang International Airport in Gangwon Province, where group tourists from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Mongolia can enter the country without a visa for a limited time period.
The subcontractors emphasized that they will suffer declining earnings and that the shipbuilders will have to pay compensation for delayed supply of vessels, if the shortage of foreign workers is prolonged.
As the total amount of compensation is estimated at up to 500 billion won ($356 million), domestic shipbuilders began trying to hire workers from various other countries, so as to minimize the workforce shortage.
"We are aware of the problem regarding the Vietnamese welders, so we have looked for workers from various other countries, such as Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia," a Hyundai Heavy Industries Group official said. "Our subcontractors are already supposed to reinforce their workers by December."
KOSHIPA declined to comment on the postponed arrival of the Vietnamese workers.
