VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Maritime Bureau (Vinamarine) has proposed to continue policies to protect its fleet in the the domestic transportation market.

The agency has sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) asking the ministry not to resume licensing of foreign firms to provide container transportation service on domestic routes.

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.

Vietnam imposed a ban on foreign firms in early 2013. However, the decision did not specify whether the ban would be removed in the future, or if if would be valid for an indefinite time.

The information that a foreign shipping firm has reportedly sent word intimating that it wants to come back to the Vietnamese domestic market has caused concern among domestic carriers.

“We heard that some foreign shipping firms have been lobbying for their return to the domestic market,” the deputy director of a domestic container carrier said. “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.”

A senior executive of Bien Dong Company said after the ban on foreign shipping firms was imposed in early 2013, the company stopped leasing two ships to foreigners and put them into exploitation in the domestic routes.

However, “there are not many jobs to do”, and the company would have to charter the two ships again, if the foreigners return.

Vinamarine’s Head Nguyen Nhat commented that the ban has helped develop the Vietnamese shipping industry. Nearly 100 percent of goods on domestic routes have been handled by the domestic fleet. This has also helped restructure the fleet.

According to Nhat, the number of container vessels on domestic routes this year increased from 19 in 2013 to 30.

If Vietnam continues restricting foreign firms on domestic routes, Nhat said, the fleet restructuring would go faster. The current number of container vessels in Vietnam accounts for only 3.5 percent of the total tonnage, much lower than the world’s average level of 14 percent.

According to Vinamarine’s deputy head Bui Thien Thu, four foreign firms still are allowed to collect goods and distribute imports and exports for genuine mother vessels.

Maersk Vietnam Company, for example, has one mother vessel at the Cai Mep – Thi Vai port. Two ships of the firms are allowed to carry empty containers and imports and exports to the port and on the Hai Phong – Da Nang – Quy Nhon – Vung Tau – HCM City routes.

Thanh Lich