Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Although there have been some positive signs inrecent years, Vietnam’s sea transport sector still face difficulties with manyenterprises suffering heavy losses. The maritime industry is proposing supportmechanisms to help the sector out of its stagnant state.

In 2018, Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) recorded stronggrowth in sea transport volume with an increase of more than 13 percent,reaching 24.3 million tonnes. This figure shows solid growth from when seatransport hit its floor a few years ago.

However, Acting General Director of Vinalines Nguyen Canh Tinh said thesector still faced challenges because, due to shipping supply surpluses,freight rates were only one-tenth of what they were in 2008.

The Philippines and Malaysia, traditional destinations for Vietnamese shippingfleets, have low profit margins. For routes with higher margins such as theRepublic of Korea, Japan and North China, many Vietnamese ships did not meetthe strict requirements to enter the ports, Tinh said. This made it difficultto access these higher-value markets.

Vu Duc Ngo, Director of Vu Gia Tam Trading and Transport Co., Ltd, saidthat since 2009, shipping activities suffered heavy losses.

According to Trinh The Cuong, head of Shipping and MaritimeServices under the Vietnam Maritime Administration (VMA), the total volumeof transport carried out by Vietnam’s fleets in 2018 was more than 144 milliontonnes, an increase of nearly 11 percent year-on-year, accounting for 55.6 percentof the total turnover of all modes of transport.

However, Cuong said the structure of Vietnam’s shipping fleet was notreasonable. While general cargo ships and bulk cargo ships accounted for morethan 70 percent of the total tonnage, container ships only accounted for 3.6percent (41 ships).

In order to support shipping enterprises, VMA is asking the Ministry ofTransport to propose the Government develop supporting policies and exemptshipping companies with large and modern fleets from taxes.

VMA will build commodity and transport trading floors to make use of cargoships on domestic routes.

The Ministry of Transport will also propose to the Government a number ofpolicies to facilitate shipping enterprises in the country. These includelending shipping enterprises investment capital, upgrading fleets fromdevelopment investment funds, exempting import taxes for supplies and equipmentto repair ships that Vietnam has not yet produced, reducing corporate incometaxes and import taxes on ships and eliminating personal income tax on salariesof officers and crew members working on seagoing vessels in inland transport.-VNS/VNA