The State-owned Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group, or Vinacomin, is expected to start construction of a deepwater port by June to primarily serve a bauxite mining project in the Central Highlands.

The SP-PSA International Port set a new productivity record for Vietnamese container ports after it handled a 67,100-DWT vessel operated by APL Ireland at an average rate of 103 containers per hour last week, Thai News Service reported.

On January 7th 2010 in Ho Chi Minh city, Saigon Newport company and the subsidiaries of SNP including Tan Cang Logistics and Stevedoring Joint Stock company (TCL), Tan Cang Transportation Joint Stock Company No 2 (TC2) has signed the Joint venture contract and charter with Sun Cypress Shipping Company Limited (Hong Kong) to establish the Saigon Newport -Cypress Joint Stock Company (NPC). The business activities of NPC will include : waterway and inland transportation, shipping agency, cargo handling service, logistics services, Customs clearance services, ICD services, CY and warehouse leasing, multi modal international transportation services, sea-port operation.

Air pollution from ships, locomotives, trucks and other Port-related sources dropped significantly from 2005 to 2008 - including a 21 percent decrease in diesel particulate matter - a new air quality study shows.

The high demand for storing imported food products and keeping export products (especially seafood) for shipment has kept cold storages in HCM City and neighboring provinces full to the brim. Vietnam is one of the world's biggest seafood exporters and the country is now hoping to consolidate and develop further. The South of Vietnam is considered as the centre of the processing industry, but the place to keep product after production is still a thorny issue for farmers and enterprises.

The SP-PSA International Port (Tan Thanh district) has set a new record in productivity for container ports in Vietnam, the "APL Ireland” vessel with the deadweight of 67,100 DWT achieved the rate of average 103 containers /hour for loading and uploading in the duration of landfall at the SP-PSA port on 30 December 2009. The APL Ireland vessel is designed with capacity of 5500 TEU and operates weekly on service line straight from Vietnam to the West American.

VND 360-440 trillion will be poured into fostering seaports nationwide from now to 2020, according to a national seaport development plan recently approved by the Government.

The Grand Alliance (GA) partners, NYK Line, Hapag Lloyd and OOCL have announced an upgrade regarding its Asia East Coast Express (AEX) service with the introduction of a 10th post Panamax (PPX) vessel and the addition of a direct and weekly Vietnam call at the deepwater port of Cai Mep.

Viet Nam's logistics industry has many natural advantages and is well placed to help develop a regional hub, or free port (called logistic parks), but it will lose the opportunity if it does not act in haste, experts caution.

Transport ministers from the Asia-Pacific region have agreed to work on a treaty to promote the development of dry ports - inland transport and logistics hubs - to spur intraregional trade and growth.