Duong Chi Dung, currently the director of the Vietnam Maritime Administration since February this year, along with two other officials - Mai Van Phuc, former Vinalines general director, and Tran Huu Chieu, former deputy general director - were impounded last Friday.
The arrests were made after state inspectors found several irregularities at Vinalines during 2007 to 2010, including the buying of old ships and using them inefficiently, according to local media reports.
Vinalines reported profits over the past few years, but economists have called for a thorough audit of the company to make sure it has not been hiding losses. Several subsidiaries of Vinalines continued to post losses in the last quarter
The Vietnamese government has launched an investigation to probe the financial problems of the shipping company.
Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin), another state-run enterprise, was also investigated in 2010 and it is now going through a painful restructuring process.
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