Tuoi Tre News

Health authorities in the southern Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh want to stop a Bahamas-flagged cruise ship with Italians on board from docking at the economic hub on Friday over coronavirus concerns, state media reported.The Health Department on Thursday advised the People's Committee of the city not to allow passengers on the cruise liner, Silver Spirit, to disembark, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said.The department said the move is aimed at "limiting the intrusion of disease into the city"…

Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship, Rich Better, collided with and sank Vietnamese squid boat BD 96660 in the East Vietnam Sea on August 2, 2016. According to Tuoi Tre News, six Vietnamese sailors are safe and being taken to mainland China to await pick-up by Vietnam’s authorities. The Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) confirmed the six aboard boat BD 96660, which was hit and submerged by Hong Kong cargo ship Rich Better in the East Vietnam Sea, had been rescued by the Hong Kong vessel and were on the way to Shanghai. According to the Vietnam MRCC, Rich Better collided with the Vietnamese boat at coordinates 12.17oN 110.38oE, 85 nautical miles east off Nha Trang City in south-central Vietnam, at around 9:00 pm on Tuesday while the former was on its way to Shanghai.

The deep-river port complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is still struggling to reach its designed capacity, says local media reports. The seven deep-water seaports have been built by the Cai Mep – Thi Vai Port Group in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau in the past few years at a total cost of VND40 trillion (nearly US$1.8 billion). Statistics from the province's transport department showed that a total of 1.16 million TEUs were handled at Cai Mep-Thi Vai last year, or just 17 percent of its capacity, even after freight growth averaged 20 percent a year, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on Thursday. Although all its seven ports are designed to handle container ships of up to 85…

China has again deployed the Haiyang Shiyou 981, a semi-submersible oil platform which caused a standoff between Chinese and Vietnamese vessels last year, to the disputed South China Sea region, reports local media. China has brought the deepwater oil rig  near Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said on its website the oil rig is located at 17 degrees 03.75 minutes north latitude (17-03.75N) and 109 degrees 59.05 minutes east longitude (109-59.05E). According to Reuters the move comes soon after the country indicated it was close to setting up new outposts in the maritime heart of South-East Asia as it nears completion of land reclamation in the South China Sea. The announcement said the rig would explore for oil and gas until August 20.

China's top diplomat scolded Vietnamese officials during talks in Hanoi on Wednesday for "hyping up" a row over a Chinese oil rig drilling in disputed waters in the South China Sea, in tough comments that suggest relations will remain rocky. State Councilor Yang Jiechi also told his hosts that the rig's activities in waters also claimed by Vietnam were "completely legal", China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing in Beijing. Yang, who outranks the country's foreign minister, made the remarks in a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. Before the visit, experts had said many obstacles remained to resolving one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since the neighbours fought a brief war in 1979.

Construction of Van Phong International Transshipment Port has ceased, opening door to investors says economic zone official. The $3.6 billion transshipment port, fully funded by the debt-laden Vietnam National Shipping Lines , or Vinalines , was started nearly three years ago, on October 31, 2009. However, the government has ordered the investor to stop construction, after 114 piles were successfully laid in the Van Phong Bay in the coastal province of Khanh Hoa. Phi said he is not surprised by the government’s request. “It’s difficult for Vinalines to continue implementing the project, given its poor ability,” he told Tuoi Tre. Phi added that without the role of Vinalines…