Transporting cold cargo container by barge: An economical solution

Sea transport is better with cheaper costs and higher level of safety. If the passage system ensured to let the big capacity ships to and fro, the cargo is not only transported from Mekong Delta to HCMC but also might have been exported to the foreign countries. But due to the deposit situation of Dinh An Passage, big capacity ships cannot dock Can Tho Port. The Quan Chanh Bo Canal is being dredged to replace Dinh An Passage, but no one can say when it is finished. Therefore, the cargo from Mekong Delta must be transport by road to HCMC.

The ships under 5,000 tons cannot enter Dinh An Passage, so we have to transport cargo to HCMC by road with very high costs and the extra fees from the low capacity signals system; this is not yet suitable with modern cargo transport means such as container trucks; the drivers are tired of the fines from traffic policemen, said a representative of a company in Thot Not, Can Tho. The transport cost for a container from Can Tho to Saigon Port is nearly USD 200 while the cost from Vietnam to Singapore is just about USD 100. In June 2011, we exported 360 containers; our customers have ordered 200 containers in the next month, but we just dare receive 120 containers, he added.

Due to this situation, many enterprises chose cargo container transported by barges. It is considered as the optimal solution at this time, because apart from remarkable reduction of costs, there are many other advantages. Our company often transports cold containers to HCMC by barges because it is cheaper than by road; the cargo temperature is stable thanks to big capacity dynamo system, ensuring cargos quality. Furthermore, from An Giang to HCMC there are so many bridges which have insufficient capacity to let the container trucks pass. This means the only disadvantage is the longer transport time (averagely about 24 hours/trip), said Mr. Huynh Lan, Chief of Sales Department of Cuu Long Aquatic Product Import & Export Joint-Stock Company, An Giang.

In the market now there are many containers transported by barge service providers, among which Tan Cang Saigon General Company (SNP) takes 70% market share. SPN is a professional container port exploiter, with modern services such as: cargo loading and unloading, logistics, marine, multimodal transport It also manages a seaport system: Tan Cang - Cat Lai Port (HCMC), Tan Cang -Cai Mep deep water port (BR-VT), Tan Cang Central (Quy Nhon), Tan Cang 189 (Hai Phong) and the inland ports in Mekong Delta such as: Tan Cang Port - My Thoi, Tan Cang Port - Cao Lanh, Tan Cang Port - Sa Dec. SPN has formed N0.2 Tan Cang Transport Joint-Stock Company to provide customers whole package freight forwarding services from Mekong Delta to HCMCs port and Cai Mep Port with 40 barges having capacity from 24 to 128 TEUs; however, due to the interlacing water system of the provinces in Mekong Delta, SPN just uses the barges with capacity from 84 TEUs down; all of those are equipped with dynamos. SPN has spread this service across the provinces in Mekong Delta. After one year deploying in Mekong Delta, in May 2010, SPN opened the transport line by barge from Vietnam to Cambodia with two 128 TEUs barges; getting cargo from Cambodia to Tan Cang- Cai Mep two trips/week. From there, the containers are loaded on the ships and go straightly to USA and Europe. SPN will also deploy in the central provinces in the near future. Chief of Sales & Marketing of N0.2 Tan Cang Transport Joint-Stock Company, Mr. Le Binh Phuc said, Compared with roads, cargo transported by barge from the ports in Mekong Delta to Cat Lai, HCMC reduces 6.8% costs for each 40 feet container and 20% cost for each 20-foot container. Similarly, cargo from Mekong Delta to Tan Cang - Cai Mep (BR-VT) reduces 18.63% costs for each 40-foot container and 30% for the 20-foot ones.