Vietnam has a total 1,568 vessels by June 2019 with a total capacity of approximately 7.8 million DWT. (Illustrative image)

The Vietnam Maritime Administration said that Vietnam’s maritime transport has maintained a good growth with the volume of goods moving throughVietnamese seaports handled by Vietnamese shipping fleet reaching over 81 million tonnes in the first six months of this year, up 16% compared to the same period in 2018.

Vietnam had a total 1,568 vessels by June 2019 with a total capacity of approximately 7.8 million DWT.

The average age of the Vietnamese fleet is currently 15.6years, 5.2 years younger than the world average (20.8 years). The Vietnamese merchant marine is also developing towards specialisation. It’s also worth noting that the number of container ships has increased from 19 ships in 2013 to 39 ships in 2019.

However, the Vietnam’s maritime transport had to face adecrease in the number of shipping fleet which reduced from more than 1,600 vessels in 2018 to 1,568 vessels in 2019. The decline may make the marine transport sector fail to fulfil the target of meeting 100% of domestic cargo transportation.

The Vietnam Maritime Administration said that it will put forth solutions to develop river-sea compatible ships (VR-SB) to share transport burdens with road transport and boost the efficiency of this kind of transport.