VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has decided to offer preferential fees in an effort to rescue the Cai Mep – Thi Vai port developers who have seen the number of international ships going in and out decreasing sharply.

Port developers, port service providers, and export companies will enjoy benefits when MOF has decided to maintain the mechanism on offering preferential fees applied to the big tonnage ships docking at the Cai Mep – Thi Vai port.

The first beneficiaries of the Circular No. 41/BTC stipulating the maritime fees on the big tonnage docking at the Cai Mep – Thi Vai port will be the ships with the tonnage of 50,000 DWT and higher to enter the ports in the Cai Mep – Thi Vai, Ba Ria – Vung Tau areas.

Under the legal document, the ships with the tonnage of over 50,000 DWT that dock at the first group of international transit ports in Vietnam would continue enjoying the 40 percent reduction in the maritime security fee, tonnage charge and the 50 percent reduction in the pilotage fee in comparison with the normal levels stipulated in the Decision No 98.

Analysts have commented that these should be seen as very big preferences for the ships with the tonnage of over 100,000 DWT. The ship owners would be able to save 5000 dollars in maritime security fee, 1536 dollars in tonnage charge and 170 dollars at least for every mile guided.

According to Bui Thien Thu, Deputy Head of the Vietnam Maritime Bureau, the Circular 41, in fact, is the extension of the decision on offering preferential fees and charges which was once released by MOF in October 2010. The decision to extend the regulation on preferential fees has been made after MOF realized that it is necessary to offer preferences to attract more international ships to Vietnamese ports.

Prior to that, some big shipping agents in the world which have the sea routes to the ports, including OOCL, NYK, Hapag Lloyd AG; Maersk Việt Nam; Yang Ming; K Lines sent a petition to the Ministry of Transport, asking for the permission to continue enjoying the preferential fees and charges.

The representative of the shipping firms said that the costs at the Cai Mep – Thi Vai ports are really less competitive than that in other regional countries. Every time when big ships, 51,000 DWT (4500 TEU), enter the ports, they can “pick up” only several hundreds of TEUs in goods.

If Vietnam does not offer preferential fees, international shipping firms’ ships would not enter the ports, especially when they are incurring big losses and considering cutting some routes, General Director of Hanjin Shipping Vietnam Park Hoon warned.

Not only shipping firms, the foreign invested port developers have also asked for the preferential fees. In December 2011, in the document sent to the Ministry of Transport and the Vietnam Maritime Bureau, CMIT, a port developer – the joint venture between the Saigon Port and Danish APM Terminal, even asked to reduce fees on the ships with the tonnage of 15,000 DWT as well.

Nguyen Xuan Ky, Deputy General Director of CMIT, said the competitiveness and attractiveness of the Cai Mep – Thi Vai port area have not been as high as expected, thus making the investor, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the port infrastructure items, feel worried. He said that in the context of the slow recovery of the world economy, both port developers and shipping firms need the support from the State to survive the current difficulties.

According to the Vietnam Maritime Bureau, due to the international gloomy shipping market, the number of international ships going to and from the Cai Mep – Thi Vai port has decreased sharply. As a result, port service providers have to reduce the handling fees.

Source: SGTT