HIGHLIGHTS
- Vietnam’s shipping fleets accounted for 11% of the market share in 2015, but this figure in 2018 decreased to 7%, sometimes only 5% and the latest reached 6% in the first half of 2021.
- With the current fleet of ships, the Vietnam Maritime Administration said that we cannot compete in the international shipping market because the current trend is to develop large ships to optimize costs.
- A series of preferential policies and support for shipping businesses have been issued by the Ministry of Transport in recent years to encourage shipping businesses and develop Vietnam’s fleet.
- Along with that, the Ministry of Transport also assigned the Vietnam Maritime Administration right in 2022 to study and build a project to develop Vietnam’s international shipping fleet.
FULL ARTICLE
Foreign fleets are holding market share
Although the volume of goods through Vietnam’s seaports is still growing at an average rate of 13.8% a year, of which container cargo is still increasing by 6% to 24 million TEUs. However, the market share of import and export cargo transportation of Vietnam’s shipping fleet is decreasing over the years. Vietnam’s shipping fleets accounted for 11% of the market share in 2015, but this figure in 2018 decreased to 7%, sometimes only 5% and the latest reached 6% in the first half of 2021.
According to data from the Vietnam Maritime Administration, the fleet of specialized shipping vessels with Vietnamese nationality has 1,043 ships, with a capacity of about 6.67 million GT and a total tonnage of about 11.3 million DWT. However, of these, there are about 800 general cargo ships, with small (under 5,000 GT) and medium (from 5,000 GT to 10,000 GT) bulk carriers accounting for 77% of the total number of ships. There are only 13 ships over 30,000 GT with an average lifespan of about 16.8 years. The group of container ships in the period 2016-2021 has almost no growth, has 38 ships and accounts for 4% of the total tonnage of the shipping fleet, moreover, it is still backward compared to the needs and development trends of the world.
With the current fleet of ships, the Vietnam Maritime Administration said that we cannot compete in the international shipping market because the current trend is to develop large ships to optimize costs. Vietnam is mainly suitable for exploiting the domestic coastal shipping market or short international routes. Looking at the overall picture, it can be seen that the foreign fleet is increasingly dominating the market.
Developing Vietnam’s fleet of ships to increase competitiveness
A series of preferential policies and support for shipping businesses have been issued by the Ministry of Transport in recent years to encourage shipping businesses and develop Vietnam’s fleet.
Specifically, those policies are the support of shipbuilding loans, income tax exemption for Vietnamese seafarers. In addition, the Ministry of Transport will reform administrative procedures in the direction of simplifying and creating favorable conditions for businesses, international cooperation to improve the position of Vietnam’s fleet and shipping.
Along with that, the Ministry of Transport also assigned the Vietnam Maritime Administration right in 2022 to study and build a project to develop Vietnam’s international shipping fleet.
The remarkable point in the project is the exemption and reduction of corporate income tax for 10 years for Vietnamese logistics enterprises with a monthly export container volume of 500 TEUs or more. Vietnamese freight owners who sign long-term transport contracts in large quantities with domestic ship owners will enjoy tax-free policies.
On the side of the Vietnam Seaport Association, it is necessary to adjust the price of seaport services in accordance with the investment scale and development needs of seaports, quickly reducing the level of domestic and international transport subsidies to match the general level of the area.
Quoc Anh
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