|
Many ships sink maritime recovery
Domestic maritime transport companies will face many difficulties this year because there are too many ships for the goods that need shipping, even though the global economy has shown signs of recovery, experts have said.
According to General Director of the Viet Nam Ocean Shipping Joint Stock Company (VOSCO) Bui Viet Hoai, the market has shown positive signs since last year's third and fourth quarters. However, he added that he expected it would only be a temporary recovery.
Experts said that although the sector had benefited from the recovery, a large number of newly built ships would lead to slower recovery within the maritime transport sector than the recovery that might be experienced by the rest of the domestic economy.
In addition, Vu Xuan Quynh, general secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Ship Owners, said owners had switched their focus to goods transport on domestic routes due to a lack of opportunity to transport to international markets. He anticipated this reality would result in fierce competition among domestic firms.
Chairman of the Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines)'s management board Duong Chi Dung said nearly 33 million tonnes of goods were transported last year, an 8 per cent increase over 2008.
He said an increase in transport costs during last year's second quarter helped the sector escape significant losses. By the end of 2009, costs increased threefold against the beginning of the year.
However, he added that the costs were equal to those of 2004 and only 40 per cent of the 2008 average. Overall, his company's turnover and profit last year were lower than the previous year.
It is clear among the industry that the sector experienced a very hard year last year. However, many maritime transport firms said that they reaped many valuable experiences in responding to risks because of the difficult situation.
Dung said his company actively responded to the year's difficulties, adding that they had predicted and prepared flexible business plans.
He said all of its subsidiaries had maintained their business operations and ensured the lives of their workers.
A few lessons were learned from the difficulties, Dung said.
The most valuable lessons were flexibility in terms of operational activities, investment and experiences in competition.
Firms also realised that the excess of ships over goods was a lesson for them to map out a proper investment strategy.
Last year, Viet Nam's maritime transport sector saw a strong expansion into the world market. Several firms opened branches and agents in foreign countries to tap into new markets.
vietnamnews
|
