US$ 180 million was spent by the Vietnam Maritime Corporation (VMC) acquiring 13 cargo ships and a large container carrier in 2009.

Mr. Cao Thanh Dong, General-Director of Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Company, a member of VINASHIN (Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group) has recently said that the company planed to launch 104,000 DWT Oil Tanker in March and hand over it to investor (VINASHIN OCEAN SHIPPING COMPANY Ltd) in Q3, 2010.

Just four months after introducing its first Mekong River cruise, AMA Waterways already has plans for a second ship to sail through Vietnam and Cambodia, scheduled to launch in the summer of 2011. The new ship, which has not been named yet, will be larger than the first ship, the 92-passenger La Marguerite, which launched on Sept. 1.

The Discovery Ship carrying 600 international tourists docked at Nha Trang Port on January 24. This is the first ship to arrive at the Nha Trang Port since the beginning of the 2010. The Discovery ship has a capacity of 20,000 tons, 168m in length and 42m in width with 317 crew from England, Australia, etc.

Some 900 foreign visitors aboard U.K. cruiser Voyages of Discovery berthed in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, beginning their seven-day tour across Vietnam.

The Voyages of Discovery Cruise Ship carrying 900 passengers on board on January 21 began a tour of Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang, Da Nang and Ha Long. Passengers mainly from the UK will stay in Vietnam until January 27.

Pursuing Resolution 09/NQ-TW of the Party Central Committees fourth plenum on Vietnams marine strategy with a vision to 2020, Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee has enacted Decision 28/2008/QD-UBND dated April 3, 2008 on the establishment of an action program for the implementation of Vietnams marine strategy in the city up to 2020. To shed some light on this, Vietnam Economic News Nguyen Boi spoke with the citys deputy chairman Nguyen Thanh Tai.

The Prime Minister has approved a plan to build a coastal road system in Vietnam with investment of 28 trillion VND.

To take initiative in seeking, exploring and exploiting oil and gas, the Diving Work and Shipping Enterprise under the Vietsovpetro received two modern service ships Vung Tau 02 and Vung Tau 03, with a cost of US$55 million.

Experts generally agree that the immense and natural potential that Vietnam has to develop a strong sea transport industry has not been tapped, leaving it in a state of continued latency.