Vietnam’s maritime transport sees impressive growth in 2019

The amount of freight handled at Vietnamese ports was estimated at 654.6 million tonnes, up 14% from the previous year while container cargo was estimated at 19.35 million

TEU, a year-on-year increase of 6%, data provided by the Vietnam Maritime Administration (VMA) showed.

The total of passengers that went through Vietnamese sea ports also surged by 22% to 7.5 million, said VMA Deputy Director, adding that the total cargo transported by the Vietnamese shipping fleet was estimated at 154.6 million tonnes, up 8% from the previous year.

Viet said as of December 2019, the Vietnamese fleet of marine vessels was 1,507, including 1,047 cargo ships, with a total capacity of 7.55 million DWT.

Vietnam’s fleet of container ships also reached 39 ships compared with just 19 in 2013.

The Vietnamese fleet currently ranks fourth in ASEAN, behind Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, and 29th in the world, said Viet, citing statistics from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

With regards to administrative reform, the VMA has rolled out the national single-window system for 11 maritime procedures at 25 port authorities, which received and approved over 94,700 dossiers during the period from January 1 to December 15, 2019.

In recent years, Vietnam has built new and upgraded existing sea ports that can accommodate larger ships, which is in turn helping goods to be transported directly to Europe and the Americas, thereby reducing transport costs and bolstering Vietnam’s logistics services.

Vietnam currently has eight logistics centres and 21 inland container depots.