VietNamNet Bridge – Following the success of the Quang Ninh – Quang Binh route, the Vietnam Maritime Bureau (Vinamarine) is considering putting other coastal shipping routes into operation to help ease the current overloading on roads.

Vinamarine’s head Nguyen Nhat said there exists a serious imbalance in the cargo transport structure in Vietnam: while roads have been overloaded, waterway shipping has been not fully exploited, which is a big waste of resources to the national economy.

With over 70 percent of cargo being transported by land, businesses have to pay high fees for transport. The freight fees to carry cargo by land from the north to the south are up to 10 times higher than by sea.

Meanwhile, high traffic density and overloaded vehicles have severely affected traffic safety, caused damages to roads and shortened the life-span of the infrastructure system.

Nhat noted that it was a good decision to put the Quang Ninh – Quang Binh coastal shipping route into operation.

Goods for the Nghi Son Petrochemistry Refinery, container goods from Hai Phong port to Vung Ang Economic Zone for he Formosa project, and cement products from Nghi Son Plant to the provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien – Hue can now be shipped by sea.

“Goods’ owners have been attracted by the new shipping air route,” Nhat said. “Right in the first month of the route’s operation, they chose the air route for the transportation of 50,000 tons of goods.”

The transport fee to carry a 20-feet container from Hai Phong City to Thanh Hoa City by land is about VND10-12 million, while the cost would be VND18-20 million from Hai Phong to Nghe An – Ha Tinh province.

Meanwhile, businesses would have to pay VND2.4 million and VND3-3.2 million, respectively, if they have their goods shipped by sea.

It takes six hours to go from Hai Phong City to Thanh Hoa by road, and 10 hours by sea.

Vice Mayor of Hai Phong City, Le Van Thanh, praised the new sea route and said the city would see a decrease of thousands of 30-ton vehicles circulating on the roads that link Hai Phong and Quang Binh province every month.

Nhat said that the effectiveness of the Quang Ninh – Quang Binh route had encouraged Vinamarine to design more coastal shipping routes.

A new route from Kien Giang in the south to Binh Thuan will be set up, which will connect inland ports, waterways stations and seaports in 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong River Delta, HCM City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Binh Thuan.

The cargo transportation demand on the route is believed to be very high. In Mekong River Delta alone, the total amount of goods is estimated at 51.5 million tons a year.

According to Nhat, other coastal shipping routes will also be put into discussion, including Quang Binh – Da Nang City, which will fulfill demand for transportation of goods to Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces and Da Nang City.

GTVT