HCMC – The SP-ITC International Container Terminal in HCMC’s District 9 on December 11 received the Cape Monterey container ship carrying commodities directly between Vietnam and Australia, with the shipping time cut shorter than before. The vessel was operated by ZIM shipping company.
Container vessels operating on the route will follow an itinerary traveling from SP-ITC in HCMC to Nansha, Yantian, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Laem Chabang, returning to HCMC.
The route enables the direct sea transport of goods from HCMC to the large Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with a shipping time of 16 days, considerably shorter than before as goods will not have to be transited at ports in the region. Also, it takes only 18 days for goods to be shipped from Australia to HCMC.
Moreover, the route is expected to boost trade between the two countries, as both of them are now members of three major free trade agreements, namely the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
SP-ITC is the first international terminal to be developed by private investors in HCMC. It is located on the Dong Nai River and can receive ships with a loading capacity of 45,000 DWT.
The terminal is focused on enhancing the quality of its services to handle new shipping routes. Before accepting the directing shipping route from HCMC to Australia, the terminal on December 1 this year had applied the use of an e-Equipment Interchange Receipt (eEIR) to modernize goods interchange activities at the terminal and reduce printed receipts.
Businesses and shipping lines can visit the terminal’s ePort website at http://eport.sp-itc.com.vn to view all data related to their cargo containers on eEIR or can download the eEIR for further use.
By Le Anh & Thanh Hoa
