All export-import express packages will be tax exempt from October 1. All exemptions are included in Government Decree 87/2010/ND-CP which regulates the prices at which the tax will apply, the exchange rate to calculate tax, tax payment schedules and tax exemptions and refunds.

Based on its analysis of the shipping industry, Business Monitor International has boosted its economic growth forecast for Viet Nam this year from 4.4 per cent to 6 per cent and is predicting an annual average growth of 6.2 per cent over the next five years.

Hainan P.O. Shipping Co. is planning a mid-August launch of a transpacific container liner service.

AXS-Alphaliner, an information platform that calls itself a "worldwide reference in liner shipping", has ranked two Vietnamese shipping companies in the list of 100 leading container shipping lines in the world.

The second half of this year is expected to see an alarming containership delivery programme unfold, with over 30 vessels in the so-called megaship capacity bracket emerging from shipbuilding yards.

The Marhall Islands ' Hubsterllar ship has rescued six crewmen abroad a fishing boat which met with an accident off the coast of Da Nang city on July 3.

Active container ship capacity increased by 15.3 percent from the beginning of the year as ocean carriers are launching extra services in response to a larger-than-expected surge in global box traffic.

The promotion will be taking place at the Seatrade All Asia Cruise Convention in China's Suzhou on Thursday till Friday. Vu Duy Vu, deputy director of Saigontourist, told the Daily on Tuesday that "our company will take the opportunity to promote seaports, tours for cruise passengers and other services for cruise ships in Vietnam."

The volume of packages shipped by DHL Express Viet Nam grew more than 30 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2010 and is tipped to grow even further by the year-end, according to a company official.

The Hyundai-Vinashin Shipyard Company in the central province of Khanh Hoa on June 15 handed over a 56,000 DWT cargo vessel named the E.R. Barcelona to Germanys company E.R.Shiffahrt.