A new coastal transport route between Quang Binh and Kien Giang province opened on October 5, slashing freight rates by up to 75 percent.
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong said at the opening ceremony in Hue that the route followed the success of one recently opened between Quang Ninh and Binh Thuan.
He said the Quang Ninh – Binh Thuan route had not only reduced transportation costs, but had led to fewer road accidents.
One of the newly developed coastal routes connects Quang Binh and Binh Thuan (858km), and the other connects Binh Thuan and Kien Giang (700km).
Only vessels classified for both river and sea travel are allowed to travel in both new routes - as long as they do not venture more than 12 nautical miles from the coast in seas with waves 2.5 metres high or less.
Statistics from the Vietnam Maritime Administration (Vinamarine) show that the demand for waterway transport in coastal provinces is rising because the cost of shipping goods is much cheaper than by road.
The amount of goods carried through the Mekong Delta Region is more than 50 million tonnes a year.
Companies in Da Nang transport a total of 400,000 tonnes of goods a year, including petroleum, steel products and fertilisers.
Since the Quang Ninh – Quang Binh waterway route opened recently, a large number of companies have changed from road to water transport.
Vinamarine also reports that road transport cost for one container from Hai Phong to Thanh Hoa was between 10 to 12 million VND, while water transport cost only 2.4 million VND.-VNA
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong said at the opening ceremony in Hue that the route followed the success of one recently opened between Quang Ninh and Binh Thuan.
He said the Quang Ninh – Binh Thuan route had not only reduced transportation costs, but had led to fewer road accidents.
One of the newly developed coastal routes connects Quang Binh and Binh Thuan (858km), and the other connects Binh Thuan and Kien Giang (700km).
Only vessels classified for both river and sea travel are allowed to travel in both new routes - as long as they do not venture more than 12 nautical miles from the coast in seas with waves 2.5 metres high or less.
Statistics from the Vietnam Maritime Administration (Vinamarine) show that the demand for waterway transport in coastal provinces is rising because the cost of shipping goods is much cheaper than by road.
The amount of goods carried through the Mekong Delta Region is more than 50 million tonnes a year.
Companies in Da Nang transport a total of 400,000 tonnes of goods a year, including petroleum, steel products and fertilisers.
Since the Quang Ninh – Quang Binh waterway route opened recently, a large number of companies have changed from road to water transport.
Vinamarine also reports that road transport cost for one container from Hai Phong to Thanh Hoa was between 10 to 12 million VND, while water transport cost only 2.4 million VND.-VNA
