Vietnam Maritime Corporation (VIMC), formerly Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), has started a Vietnam-Malaysia-India service to ease the burden on local exporters, who are finding it hard to get shipping slots amid tight shipping capacity.
VIMC said that Covid-19, along with the logistical bottlenecks caused by the pandemic, has placed difficulties on Vietnamese shippers. Compounding the situation, imports and exports are predominantly carried by foreign liner operators.
As the logjams have disrupted shipping schedules, mainline operators have been compelled to skip Vietnamese ports which have lower cargo volumes than other Asian countries, reducing the supply of shipping capacity for Vietnamese exporters, which have had to struggle with rising freight rates.
Freight rates for cargoes moving from Vietnam to Europe and to North America have risen three to seven times within the year, due to inadequate shipping slots and containers.
VIMC said, “Previously, it cost US$4,000 to ship a 40-foot container from Vietnam to North America. Today, the cost is US$20,000, and the container needs to be transhipped in Singapore or Hong Kong.”
VIMC’s Vietnam-Malaysia-India service began regular sailings on 25 November, a month after an ad hoc sailing was launched.
“We hope that this service will help trade between Vietnam and other countries, laying a foundation for Vietnam’s post-Covid-19 economic recovery,” added VIMC.
To build on its goal of playing a role in Vietnam’s future economic development, VIMC plans to build new container ships in 2022, and is looking for collaboration opportunities with overseas partners to plug the funding gap.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
