Laos News

Several Chinese ports are facing congestion as vessels due to call at Ningbo are being diverted and cargo processing is slowed partly due to stricter disinfection measures under China's "zero-tolerance" coronavirus policy.On Tuesday, more than 50 container vessels were queuing at Ningbo port, China's second largest marine center, Refinitiv data showed, up from 28 on Aug. 10 when a COVID-19 case was reported at one of its terminals.Leading international shipping groups have warned their clients of delays and route adjustments.

Da Nang Port Joint Stock Company (DNPJSC) has started the second stage of Tien Sa port after two years of construction, bringing its total capacity to 12 million tonnes of cargo per year.The national radio broadcaster Voice of Vietnam quoted General Director of DNPJSC Nguyen Huu Sia saying that the second stage at Tien Sa Port had cost more than 1 trillion VND (44.2 million USD), of which 36 percent was funded by the company.Tien Sa Port is expected to be able to handle 70,000 DWT vessels and 10 million tonnes of cargo a year.The expansion project will cover an area of 60,000sq.m, raising the port’s total area to about 31ha. In addition, two new piers, measuring 310m and 210m in length, will be constructed for docking container ships.

The Domino Theory was the Cold War concept that if communism obtained a foothold in a region – say Vietnam in Southeast Asia – other countries would soon fall like a perfectly aligned row of dominoes to communism (e.g., Cambodia and Laos). Whether one supports the theory or not, it has at least one strong point: it was a simple story to tell. It feels like California has adopted its own version of the Domino Theory: if California pushes the regulatory envelope for zero emissions, other states and countries will certainly adopt similar strategies.

The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre and the Indian Coast Guard have commenced the 2017 Capacity Building Workshop in New Delhi, India. Themed “Striding Over Domestic Challenges,” this year’s workshop draws ReCAAP Focal Points from maritime enforcement and government agencies across Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the United States. Participants will pool case studies drawn from recent incidents from their respective countries, discuss challenges, and share best practices to effectively deal with the evolving patterns of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA Japan) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), in cooperation with the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC), jointly launched the inaugural Capacity Building Executive Programme on combating piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia in Singapore. The Capacity Building Executive Programme—targeted at senior-level personnel with 10 to 15 years of experience and above in maritime enforcement—will see ReCAAP Contracting Parties from ASEAN (Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), together with representatives from Indonesia and Malaysia as dialogue partners, participate in a 10-day training held both in Singapore and Japan from September 27 to October 6, 2017.

The Philippines' territorial dispute with China over the South China Sea has not caused Manila to rebalance diplomatic ties with either its ally, the United States, or neighbouring China, Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay said on Wednesday. An arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July by ruling that China had no historical title over the South China Sea and that it had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights with various actions there. "We want to make close friendship with China. It does not mean that we'll weaken our friendship with the United States," Yasay told Reuters during a break in a meeting of the senate foreign relations committee. On Tuesday evening, President Rodrigo Duterte said he expects talks with China over the maritime dispute within a year.

Cambodia advised a grouping of South East Asian nations to avoid using words that "would escalate tension between China and the Philippines" in a weekend statement, the country's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Cambodia's support for China's position on an international court ruling denying the Asian giant's claims in the South China Sea handed Beijing a diplomatic victory when the grouping's ministers met on Sunday. The bloc, which follows an overriding principle of making decisions by consensus, omitted reference to the ruling after its first meeting following the decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in favour of the Philippines.

China's foreign minister has asked the U.S. secretary of state John Kerry to support the resumption of talks between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea, following a ruling against Beijing over the dispute earlier this month. China did not participate in and has refused to accept the July 12 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, in which U.S. ally Manila won an emphatic legal victory. Meeting in the Laos capital Vientiane on Monday during a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Kerry that China and ASEAN had agreed the dispute should get back onto the "correct" track of being resolved by direct talks with the parties concerned.

U.S. Secretary of State Kerry says backs bilateral talks; Philippines says dispute does not involve United States. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday he supported the resumption of talks between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea, following an international court ruling against Beijing over the dispute earlier this month. China did not participate in and has refused to accept the July 12 ruling by the U.N.-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration, in which U.S. ally Manila won an emphatic legal victory. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi had asked Kerry to lend his support for bilateral talks to restart between Manila and Beijing in a meeting between the two in the Laos capital of Vientiane on Monday.

Manila drops request to refer to court ruling in statement. Southeast Asian nations overcame days of deadlock on Monday when the Philippines dropped a request for their joint statement to mention a landmark legal ruling on the South China Sea, officials said, after objections from Cambodia. China publicly thanked Cambodia for supporting its stance on maritime disputes, a position which threw the regional block's weekend meeting in the Laos capital of Vientiane into disarray. Competing claims with China in the vital shipping lane are among the most contentious issues for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with its 10 members pulled between their desire to assert their sovereignty while finding common ground and fostering ties with Beijing.

Southeast Asian nations were thrown into disarray after Cambodia on Saturday blocked them from issuing a statement referring to an international court ruling against China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, diplomats said. The U.N.-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague handed an emphatic legal victory to the Philippines in the maritime dispute earlier this month, denying China's sweeping claims in the strategic seaway. Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet for the first time since the ruling on Sunday, before hosting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi among others.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will urge Southeast Asian nations in meetings in Laos next week to find diplomatic ways to launch talks with China on easing tension over the South China Sea following an international court ruling that denies China's claims in the sea. Kerry travels to Laos' capital Vientiane on Monday for meetings of foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of South East Asia Nations where tensions between China and several ASEAN members, in particular the Philippines and Vietnam, over the South China Sea is expected to dominate talks. "The Secretary will reinforce our hope that ... the parties will now turn to constructively engaging in a effort to find diplomatic ways to peacefully interact in the South China Sea," a senior U.S.

China risks "terrible" damage to its reputation if it ignores an impending international court ruling on the South China Sea, the United States said on Thursday, while urging Southeast Asian countries to rally behind the court decision. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected to rule in coming weeks on a case the Philippines has brought against China's claim to virtually all of the South China Sea, a strategic route for a quarter of the world's trade and oil.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is pressing for peaceful resolutions to increasingly tense maritime disputes in Asia, reports AP. Kerry arrived in the Laotian capital Sunday and will travel to China late Tuesday for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other senior officials, the State Department said. Laos is the current head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose members are becoming more vocal in complaints about China's growing assertiveness over competing claims in the South China Sea. According to WSJ, he will also raise concerns with Beijing about its continued aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, where China, Vietnam, the Philippines and several other countries have competing territorial claims, the official said.

Senior officers from Australia and 19 other nations attended the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) meeting in Sydney this week to reinforce the importance of a regional approach to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea. ReCAAP facilitates capacity building efforts and information sharing among its member countries. Rear Admiral Michael Noonan, Commander of Maritime Border Command of the Australian Border Force (ABF), which includes ABF and Defence, stressed the importance of ReCAAP as the only multi-nation regional forum dedicated to combatting piracy and sea robbery.

Huawei Marine has signed a system design and construction agreement with a consortium comprising Telekom Malaysia Berhad, Symphony Communication and Telcotech to build the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT) submarine cable system. Spanning approximately 1,300 km, the MCT cable system will provide connectivity between Cherating in Malaysia and Rayong in Thailand with a branching unit connecting from the main trunk into Sihanoukville in Cambodia. Access to neighboring counties such as Laos and Myanmar will be achieved through further connection to terrestrial based networks. The MCT cable system adopts the 100G technology with a total design capacity exceeding 30 Tbps. The system will be commissioned and ready for commercial service by the end of 2016.

China will come under the most concerted diplomatic pressure yet to rein in its assertive moves in the disputed South China Sea when the United States uses a regional security meeting this weekend to rally support for a freeze on provocative acts. The push by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the ASEAN Regional Forum marks a step up in Washington's involvement in the dispute, which has frayed regional ties as China acts more forcefully on its sweeping sovereignty claims. Kerry arrives in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw on Saturday, joining top diplomats from China, Russia, Japan, India, Australia, the European Union and Southeast Asia among others in Asia's highest-profile gathering so far this year.

A surge of tensions in the South China Sea threatens to widen divisions between Southeast Asian nations at a summit this weekend, posing a severe test for host Myanmar as the newly democratic country seeks to manage the region's growing alarm over China. The routine annual meeting of Southeast Asian leaders has been given a jolt of urgency by a series of collisions this week between Chinese and Vietnamese vessels after China stationed a giant oil rig near the disputed Paracel islands, off Vietnam's coast. Both sides have blamed the other, and dozens of coastguard and patrol vessels are in the area. Tensions also spiked in another part of the oil- and gas-rich South China Sea, with Beijing demanding that U.S.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) has opened its first office in Myanmar (formerly Burma) as part of its global expansion programme. Since Burma has opened up to foreign investment following recent political reform, WSS has made plans on how to offer its customers a direct service from inside the country. The company has concluded the time is right to play a role in shaping Myanmar’s ports, shipping and offshore service sectors. Myanmar is rich in natural resources and activity in the offshore and energy sector is growing rapidly.

The Republic of Korea (South Korea), India and Sri Lanka signed the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP). According to a statement issued by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, South Korea also deposited its instrument of ratification with Singapore, where the depositary of the agreement is located, on the day. The agreement was signed by South Korean Ambassador to Singapore Park Joon-woo, Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad and Sri Lankan High Commissioner Shehan Ratnavale on behalf of their governments. Concluded in Tokyo in November 2004, the ReCAAP is a Japanese initiative aiming to boost anti-piracy cooperation among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)…

A landmark regional cooperation pact against marine piracy in Asia is set to take effect in early September. Singapore's foreign affairs ministry says 11 countries have now ratified the regional pact on combating piracy and armed robbery of ships in Asia. Singapore serves as the depository of the agreement and will host the group's information sharing centre which is a permanent body with full-time staff. Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Burma, South Korea, Vietnam, India and Sri Lanka have all ratified the agreement. Brunei is also in the process of ratifying the pact. Officials say vessels plying the Malacca Strait are vulnerable to pirates and seaborne "terrorism".

Presidents of Thailand & Mynamar (Burma) agree on port development for deep-sea port to enable Malacca Strait bypass route. Thailand and Myanmar agree to set up a joint committee to follow up on economic cooperation that includes linking Myanmar's future Dawei deep-sea port with the Thai Eastern Seaboard. The deal came at the end of talks between Myanmar President Thein Sein and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at Government House in Bangkok. Dawei, in southern Myanmar, is a key project for Thailand's economy, especially trade, more than for Myanmar, because it would cut travel time to the West for Thai goods (as well as goods from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam), allowing ships from the Indian Ocean to bypass the Malacca Straits.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said it will apply a peak-season bill of lading surcharge for all shipments from Europe and the Mediterranean to Asia for all equipment types. The surcharge, which will become effective from 1 Nov., 2009 and will extend until 31 Dec., 2009, will be $100 per TEU. The affected countries of loading will be: Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Czech rep, Slovenia, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Ireland, France, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Italy, Greece, Moldavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Spain (including the Canary Islands), Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Israel, Turkey, Cyprus and Malta.