Hanoi (VNA) – Shipping routes along the coast ofVietnam have played an increasingly large role in transporting goods from thenorth to the south of the country in recent years, helping ease the burden onroad transport.

In 2014, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) openedtwo inshore shipping routes linking the northernmost coastal province of QuangNinh with central Quang Binh province, and Quang Binh with the southern coastalprovince of Kien Giang.

The move aimed to capitalise on the nationwideriver and canal network to use river-sea cargo vessels (VR-SB) to carry goodsfrom rivers and canals in the mainland and then along the coast to reachdestinations nationwide, a revolution in the country’s water transportindustry.

Director of the Vietnam Inland WaterwaysAdministration (VIWA) Hoang Hong Giang said there are 124 river mouthsnationwide with about 30 eligible for river-sea transport. This type oftransport was not developed in the past due to regulatory barriers.

He noted more than 1,550 VR-SB ships have operatedover the last four years and over 120 passenger ships.

The freight volume transported on inshoreshipping routes surges by 180 – 200 percent annually.

In 2014 and 2015, inland waterways ports andterminals and seaports handled more than 8,000 vessel arrivals with 8.4 milliontonnes of goods. The respective figures shot up to 17.1 million and 17.3million in 2016, and about 26 million and 30 million in 2018, Giang added.

MoT Deputy Minister Nguyen Nhat said for shortdistances – about 400km and shorter – like between northern Hai Phong city andcentral Ha Tinh province, or between central Binh Thuan province and Ho ChiMinh City in the south, river-sea transport has advantages. It has helpedhandle a huge volume of cargo, especially oversize and overweight loads.

While road transport is under great pressure andrail transport is substandard, inshore shipping lines have been warmly welcomedby businesses, he noted.

Nhat explained that although the time needed todeliver goods on these routes is 1.5 – 3 times longer than by road, costs are50 – 70 percent of using the roads.

He took the route from HCM City to central QuangNgai province as an example. It costs 25 million VND (more than 1,000 USD) totransport one container by road, but the expense falls to only 6 million VND(nearly 260 USD) when using water transport.

With the fast and constant growth of river-seatransport, the number of VR-SB vessels is forecast to rise sharply, theofficial added.

However, VIWA Director Giang also admittedobstacles to the development of VR-SB ships, saying there are more than 270ports and 10,000 terminals inland waterways across Vietnam, but most of them aresmall scale, with limited capacity and poor links with road and rail transport.

A shortage of manpower for operating these vesselsand a lack of connectivity between inshore shipping routes and other servicesalso need to be addressed.

Deputy Minister Nhat said it is necessary toencourage the development of VR-SB vessels while also strictly managing theiroperations. He also called for the expansion and stronger monitoring of inshoreshipping routes.-VNA