Vietnam boasts three seaports listed among the Top 50 largest container ports globally, namely Ho Chi Minh City Port, Hai Phong Port, and Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port, VNS reported Saturday.

In Lloyd's 2023 list, which ranked ports by the volume of container traffic represented in million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), the port of HCM City secured the 23rd position, slipping one spot from the previous year’s list. With 106 routes in Asia, one to America and two to Europe, the 160-year port handled over 7.9 million TEU in 2022, down 0.6% year-on-year.

The Hai Phong Port also dropped one place to the 31st position, handling over 5.6 million TEU in 2022. As Vietnam’s second largest container hub, it facilitates 69 routes within Asia, two to America and one to Europe.

Maintaining its 32nd position, the Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province managed a throughput of nearly 5.6 million TEU. It services nine Asian routes, 21 to America and five to Europe.

The port of HCM City. Photo: saigonport.vn

The Tan Cang - Cai Mep port cluster, located near the Thi Vai - Cai Mep river T-junction, is a national gateway and a point of transit for goods between Vietnam and countries around the world, especially the key export and import markets of Vietnam in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, thus playing an important role in trading activities and economic development of the country.

Over the past 15 years, the port, run by the Saigon New Port Corporation under the Vietnam People's Navy, has become the country’s deep-water container port with the largest throughput.

In 2023, despite many difficulties, the corporation completed its set plan. The throughput of container cargo through ports in the system reached 9.75 million TEUs, equivalent to nearly 140 million tonnes of cargo, up nearly 1% (accounting for 56.8% of the country’s total). The Tan Can – Cai Mep port cluster alone posted a growth rate of 10%, with the throughput reaching 2.7 million TEUs.

Vietnam leads the ASEAN region with three ports in Lloyd’s list, followed by Malaysia with two ports, while the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore each have one.

Vietnam has trade relations with more than 60 major markets in the world within the framework of free trade agreements (FTA), and most of Vietnam’s international trade relies on sea transport. The country’s seaport system is now capable of accommodating the world’s largest tonnage vessels, drawing in 40 major global shipping lines.

In 2023, Vietnam’s freight transport reached more than 2.3 billion tonnes, up by 15.4% year-on-year, with goods turnover hitting 490 billion tonnes, up 10.8%.

For the first two months of 2024, freight transport was estimated to increase by 13.9% to 416 million tonnes, with goods turnover rising by 14% to 88 billion tonnes compared to the same period in 2023. Notably, waterway and maritime freight transport have shown impressive growth rates of 21% and 18.1%, respectively.

As of 2023, Vietnam's sea fleet comprised 1,447 vessels, including 1,015 cargo ships, totaling approximately 10.7 million DWT. The country ranks 3rd in ASEAN and 27th globally, with an average vessel age of 15.5 years. Vietnamese enterprises own foreign-flagged vessels with a total tonnage of 2.5 million DWT.

According to the Ministry of Transport, Vietnam's sea fleet has seen rapid growth in recent years, handling 100% of domestic cargo volume and 6-8% of the export-import cargo market share.

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