Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Careful consideration is needed beforeincreasing seaport services charges to limit negative impacts on theeconomy during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Vietnam MaritimeAdministration.

Responding to the Vietnam Ship Agents, Brokers and Maritime Service ProvidersAssociation (VISABA)’s proposal to raise container handling charges, themaritime administration said while the COVID-19 pandemic was still complex andhitting firms hard, the logistics costs must not cause any more burdens forimport and export firms.

The Government also asked to keep service charges stable at this time.

VISABA recently proposed the minimum container loading and unloading charges atsome ports in the northern region be increased by 10 percent annuallyfor three consecutive years, starting from July 1, 2021.

For deep-water seaports, Lach Huyen and Cai Mep - Thi Vai, the increase wasproposed to be at least 20 percent from July 1 and 10 percent for the nextthree years.  

Nguyen Xuan Ky, general director of Tan Cang - Cai Mep International TerminalCompany Limited, said seaports played an important role in the circulation ofgoods, adding it was necessary to increase services changes so enterprisescould have resources for reinvestment.

According to the Vietnam Maritime Administration, foreign shipping linescollect a terminal handling charge of around 114-173 USD per container on theircustomers in Vietnam. However, Vietnam’s ports collect very low containerhandling charges, about 33 USD per 20ft-container at Dinh Vu, 52 USD at Cai Mepand 41 USD at HCM City.

The container loading and unloading charges of Vietnam remained low, onlyequivalent to 80 percent of Cambodia, 70 percent of Malaysia, 61 percent ofIndonesia and 46 percent of Singapore.

The low container handling charges were considered a competitive advantage of Vietnam’sseaport system to attract big cargo container ships to deep-water seaports,including Cai Mep - Thi Vai and Lach Huyen.

Vietnam has attracted 40 foreign shipping lines with the transported cargovolume increasing by an average of 13 percent each year,helping promote the development of the logistics system and acceleratetrade, according to the maritime administration.

The maritime administration said reasonable seaport service charges helped notonly attract shipping lines but also stabilise the market and prevent unhealthycompetition among service providers.

Port companies have reported profits, with Hai Phong Port earning 173billion VND after-tax profit in the first quarter of this year, while Da Nangand Quy Nhon reported increases by 7 percent and 27 percent, respectively.

The maritime administration said that Circular 54/2018/TT-BGTVT only regulatedthe minimum services charges and enterprises could charge higher fees than theminimum levels.

However, most seaports were applying the minimum fees under the circular toattract shipping lines./.