Vinalines downsizing shipping fleet in 2018

But Vietnam’s national shipping company sees growth ahead after public stock offering this summer.    Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), the national shipping company of Vietnam, expects revenues to fall again this year but is planning to grow in 2019 and beyond after a planned initial public offering of its stock this summer.
   The company is planning to sell about 35 percent to outside investors, while 65 percent will remain in the hands of the government.
   Vietnam News, the state-run English daily, reported on Thursday that Vinalines will downsize its fleet with the sale of six ships in 2018 after selling eight ships in 2017.
    The ships for sale consist of:
    • Three dry bulk carriers: the 26,369 dwt Vinalines Fortuna, built in 1991, the 26,465 dwt Vinalines Ocean, built in 1993, and the 42,717 dwt Vinalines Sky, built in 1997;
    • Two 53,530 product tankers: Vinalines Glory, built in 2006, and Vinalines Galaxy, built in 2007;
    • Vinalines Ruby, a containership with capacity for about 1,800 TEUs, built in 2012.
   Vietnam News said, “The reduction in the shipping fleet negatively affected Vinalines’ business performance last year.”
   According to the Vinalines website, the company had a net profit of $31 million on revenue of $616 million in 2017, compared with a net profit of $2 million on revenue of $819 million in 2016.
   Revenue is expected to continue to fall this year to $500 million this year but then rebound to $610 million by 2020.
   Revenues in 2017 were down when compared to 2016 in all three of Vinalines’ operating segments. Shipping revenues were down 40 percent to $200 million; logistics revenues were down 19 percent to $214 million; and port operation revenues were down 8 percent to $202 million.
   Alphaliner ranks Vinalines as the 96th-largest container carrier with just nine ships. Those ships have a total capacity of 5,847 TEUs.
   According to Vinalines’ website, the carrier also operates 20 percent of the berths, as measured in length, in Vietnam. It is also the largest maritime warehousing company in Vietnam with 5.7 million square feet (53 hecares) of warehouse space.
   Vinalines said its shipping volumes are expected to fall dramatically in 2018. The company is forecasting volumes will drop by more than 50 percent, from 19.4 million tons in 2017 to 8.2 million tons this year. Container volumes are expected to drop from 473,756 TEUs in 2017 to 267,828 TEUs in 2018.
   The company’s containerships ply intraAsia routes.re
   In January, Le Quang Trung, a vice president of Vinalines, told the Vietnam Investment Review that the company has plans to set up international alliances focusing on shipping and logistics. In shipping, he said Vinalines will restructure its fleet, focusing on long-term contracts and key large-volume commodities such as coal, ores, steel, cement and clinker while creating more two-way shipping services.
   “We plan to set up consortiums with international shipping lines, owners of mines and suppliers to provide shipping and logistics services to on-site works,” Trung said.