Direct shipping route between Vietnam and Australia opened

Container vessels operating on the route will follow an itinerary traveling from HCMC to Port Keland in Malaysia, Singapore, Jakarta, Brisbane, Sydney and Townsville, returning to Port Kelang and finally HCMC.

It takes ships 16 days to travel from HCMC to Brisbane, and 18 days to Sydney, Australia. The CMA CGM Group will operate five weekly ships on the route, with each ship having a loading capacity of 40,000 tons.

The opening of the shipping route is expected to help import-export operators considerably cut shipping costs. Additionally, the route is expected to encourage an increase in the volume of goods transported from Vietnam to Australia, and thus boost exports to the potential market.

Last year, some local exporters shipping goods to Australia complained about surging shipping costs, while they faced a shortfall of container ships operating on the route. The fee hike was attributed to a sudden rise in the volume of export products to Australia, and the limited number of ships operating on the route.

Earlier, the shipping route connecting Vietnam and Australia had been operational, but was later suspended due to a low volume of goods.

The SP-ITC International Container Terminal was put into service in September 2016 and includes a 1,000-meter-long pier along the Dong Nai River. It can handle two million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEU). Also, its location is near key road routes, such as the Hanoi Highway, Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway and is convenient for the transport of goods to industrial zones in the southern provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau.