State-run newspapers in Vietnam say police have accused nine former shipbuilding executives of mismanagement in connection with the near-collapse of one of the country's key state-controlled enterprises last year.

The reports say the executives, who once ran the industrial grouping Vinashin, face charges of violating government regulations as the industrial giant racked up more than $4 billion in debt by early 2010. The debt was equivalent to about 4.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Authorities are reportedly still probing separate allegations of embezzlement.

The state-controlled Thanh Nien newspaper says police focused the first phase of their probe on the loss of more than $43 million. The report says most of those funds disappeared on projects to develop an electric generating plant and a prototype high-speed passenger boat.

Last December, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung apologized to the National Assembly for allowing Vinashin to accumulate the debt, saying part of the crisis was caused by the 2008 global recession. But he also acknowledged his government had failed to provide adequate oversight.

The crisis played a large part in the move by two global credit rating agencies to lower the communist country's long-term credit. The move by credit agencies Moody's and Standard and Poor's came when the company was unable to make a $600 million payment and asked its creditors to reschedule the debt.