Suez Canal blockage may affect some of Vietnamese businesses

Cairo (VNA) – The stranding of the 400m-long container ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal where over 10 percent of global cargo and 7 percent of the world’s oil are transshipped is raising concerns about affecting  of several Vietnamese enterprises, despite initial successes in the attempt to rescue this megaship.

First Secretary of the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt and head of the embassy’s Trade Office Nguyen Duy Hung said that there is currently no official statistics on the number of Vietnamese commodities exported to other countries on ships waiting off the Suez Canal, as a number of shipping companies such as Maersk and CMS CGM decided to divert ships round Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) to Europe with the calculation of faster time.

The Vietnam Trade Office in Egypt recommended Vietnamese companies coordinate closely with shipping companies to get updated on the transport capacity, the time of docking and goods loading as well as their insurance against delays or possible damage of goods, especially aquatic products.

Businesses also need to work with importers to address possible problems related to slow delivery to avoid any trade disputes. For support, affected businesses should soon contact with the Vietnam Trade Office.

The 200,000-tonne MV Ever Given veered off course in the Suez Canal on March 23. The incident causes global economic losses of up to 9 billion USD each day, worsening the supply chain which is seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The course of the ship has been corrected by 80 percent with the stern of the ship currently 102m from the shore, instead of 4m.

According to the Suez Canal Authority, the number of ships jammed is over 350 and it takes at least 3-6 days to circulate all of the above./.