Vietnam to Protect Domestic Fleet
Vietnam says no to foreign firms to provide container transportation service on domestic routes, says a report published in VietNamNet Bridge.
The Vietnam Maritime Bureau (Vinamarine) has sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) seeking to continue policies to protect its fleet in the domestic transportation market. The increase in the number of vessels and the unchanged volume of goods are the two reasons it cited as a basis for the proposal.
Earlier in 2013, Vietnam imposed a ban on foreign firms. However, the decision did not specify whether the ban would be removed in the future, or if would be valid for an indefinite time.
There have been reports that a foreign shipping firm has been lobbying for their return to the domestic market.
“The presence of foreign firms in the domestic market is really bad news, even though they only collect goods for mother vessels and carry empty containers,” says deputy director of a domestic container carrier.
Vietnamese maritime sector is undergoing interesting times. The Prime Minister of the country recently announced that two state-owned enterprises (SOEs) - the shipbuilding giant Vinashin and the ports and shipping authority Vinalines - will be sold off (disinvest) this year.
As for Vinashin and Vinalines, government investigations in the last couple of years have revealed gross mismanagement and malfeasance. Unless these problems are appropriately addressed and resolved, the prospects of successful IPOs would also be dim.
However industry observers say that Vietnam's two major ports - Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang - are set to continue to impress in both the short and medium term. Whereas the port of Ho Chi Minh City is anticipated to lead the way in year-on-year (y-o-y) tonnage throughput terms in 2015 (y-o-y gains of 7.62%), the port of Da Nang is set to register the highest box throughput increase this year, hitting double digit growth (10.00%).
