SIMIC

Exports were estimated at six million TEU, an increase of 13 per cent while imports came to at 6.1 million TEU, up 18 per cent. Domestic volume stood at 6.3 million TEU.

Overall, Vietnamese seaports handled more than 537 million tons of goods in the first nine months of the year - a three per cent year-on-year rise, reports Fort Lauderdale's Maritime Executive.

Major seaports were severely affected when the Vietnamese government put the country's southern region into Covid lockdown in July.

Most of the terminals in Ho Chi Minh City reported massive congestion as ships waited for berth space to open up. Nonetheless, the volume of goods that went through Ho Chi Minh City expanded by more than seven per cent during the period.

Although container shipping is experiencing upheavals from Covid, cargo is moving in larger amounts than ever before.

"Part of the current turmoil is quite normal in other shipping sectors in times of capacity shortage - in container shipping we have just been fortunate enough not to have seen it to this degree before," commented Lars Jensen, founder of container shipping consultancy Vespucci Maritime.