With Vinashin sitting on a $600m loan, missing three installments of up to $60m, and getting sued by Dutch-based hedge fund Elliot Advisors, Hanoi is finding it increasingly hard to sidestep the difficult issues of its failing shipbuilding corporation.
Vietnam's deputy prime minister Hoang Trung Hai and transport minister Dinh La Thang said in a cautiously worded statement at the opening of Vietship 2012 exhibition in Hanoi on Tuesday that the government will back Vinashin, but did not give further details.