Cargo handled by Vietnamese seaports on the rise

The volume of goods moving through Vietnamese ports reached over 128.4 million tonnes in the first three months of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 7%, including nearly 4.1 million TEUs of container throughput, according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration.

The volume of goods moving through Vietnamese ports reached over 128.4 million tonnes in the first three months of 2019. (Illustrative image)
The volume of goods moving through Vietnamese ports reached over 128.4 million tonnes in the first three months of 2019. (Illustrative image)

Trinh The Cuong, head of the Maritime Transportation and Services Division under the Vietnam Maritime Administration, said that the rise in volume of cargo through seaports was due to Vietnam’s increasing import and export revenue.

Vietnam’s export revenue was reported at US$58.51 billion in the first quarter of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%, while the import revenue was posted at nearly US$58 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%.

Cuong noted that cargo shipped through ports is forecast to maintain growth in the near future as a series of large shipping lines, such as Maersk and SITC, have continuously opened more services to handle goods at the seaports of Hai Phong, Da Nang and Cai Mep-Thi Vai.

Notably, on April 11, the Hai Phong International Container Terminal successfully received the Northern Jaguar vessel, with a capacity of over 8,800 TEUs and run by Ocean Network Express, which operates regularly on the route to connect North Vietnam with the West coast of the US and Canada.

“This route will shorten transport time from Hai Phong to the West coast of the US and Canada from 25 days to 17 days, when compared to transit through a foreign port. This advantage will help the international container terminal in Lach Huyen area to attract more and more transshipment cargo," Cuong said.