Busy seaport welcoming ships during September 2nd holiday

On the occasion of National Day, September 2, Nam Dinh Vu port (Hai Phong) was still operating non-stop to welcome ships to load and unload goods. There were days when 3-4 ships docked at the port.

Mr. Tran Viet Manh, Director of Nam Dinh Vu Port, said that with seaport operations, businesses always operate throughout the holidays to ensure the loading, unloading and circulation of goods. Therefore, the port must always arrange for people to be on duty to ensure that ships arriving at the port can always handle cargo.

Some seaports in the Hai Phong area such as Lach Huyen, Nam Dinh Vu... all welcomed many ships and were busy operating during the September 2nd holiday.

According to Mr. Manh, recently, the volume of goods through the seaports in the Hai Phong area has increased. Many ports have also welcomed more ad-hoc ships (ships outside of the fixed schedule) because of the fuel oil spill incident during the refueling process at Kwai Tsing port (Hong Kong) causing congestion, forcing many shipping lines to change their schedules. Therefore, the number of ships entering the port has also fluctuated continuously. This also continues during the holidays.

"Many shipping lines consider Nam Dinh Vu a good backup plan if the seaport in Lach Huyen is congested. Especially after the Ha Nam canal was upgraded to a depth of -8.5m, ships entering and leaving the port are also more convenient," said Mr. Manh, adding that to increase the capacity of loading and unloading goods in the port during the holidays, to welcome more ships and cargo output, the Port has arranged additional depots to increase the clearance capacity in the yard.

In addition, increasing digitalization and applying software such as Smart Gate helps improve delivery time index. The average delivery time from the time the vehicle enters the gate to when it exits the port gate is now about 18 minutes, while previously, ports in the region had an average delivery time of about 30-45 minutes, depending on the technology of each port.

At the same time, the port also invested in equipment to increase loading and unloading capacity. Currently, the port's loading and unloading capacity is about 75-80 moves/hour, helping shipping lines increase cargo clearance time, reduce berthing time, and reduce operating costs.

In the South, with Saigon Port International Container Terminal – SSA (SSIT), during the 4-day holiday of September 2 this year, this enterprise has given 2 days off for employees on September 1 and 2. On September 3, the port will welcome ships again.

According to SSIT port leaders, the number of ships entering and leaving the port in particular and the Cai Mep - Thi Vai area in general has increased recently. However, during the holiday, the company has agreed with the shipping agent to take a holiday and ships will return to the port from the 3rd.

Meanwhile, some seaports also maintained operations. Gemalink Port representative informed that during the holiday, the departments at the port site still worked normally.

The port still receives ships, loads and unloads import/export goods, unloads containers for export, and lifts and lowers empty containers as usual. At the same time, the port also requested the customs authority to arrange personnel to handle the work.

In addition, to support shipping lines and shipping agents, in addition to the free storage time specified in the contract, the port also waives storage fees for containers with goods imported from ships, containers of transit/transit goods and containers of temporarily imported and re-exported goods during the holiday.

A port business said that in some countries, during holidays, ports collect additional fees from shipping lines to cover overtime costs for workers. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, many ports still have policies to support customers and shipping lines in handling goods and storing goods during holidays.

"Although they have to pay overtime fees to workers, the ports do not collect any additional fees from shipping lines. This is a common practice at Vietnamese seaports, also due to competition. Therefore, shipping lines always maintain normal operations during Vietnamese holidays," the company said.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/cang-bien-tap-nap-don-tau-xuyen-le-2-9-192240902090255386.htm