At the meeting, leaders of the Ministry of Transport suggested localities create maximum conditions for smooth maritime operations, effectively maintaining the supply chain of import and export goods in the context of the epidemic.

Only about 10% of seafarers have been vaccinated

At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Canh Tinh, General Director of Vietnam Maritime Corporation (VIMC) stated the worrying fact that VIMC currently has 78 ships operating domestically and internationally with about 4,000 vessels with about 4,000 sailor. However, the number of sailors who are vaccinated against COVID-19 is only 10%.

“The characteristics of ships are long-term, continuous operations at sea. Seafarers infected with COVID-19 during navigation cannot have access to medical facilities on shore. The danger is not only for one person but for all 20-22 crew members/ship, seriously affecting the cargo transport chain, "said Mr. Tinh.

VIMC leaders also expressed concern about the difficulty in replacing crew members. The current difficulty is that the ship docked at Hai Phong seaport to replace the crew, but the crews are reserved in many different locations. To replace them, they are forced to meet the 14-day quarantine requirement if they enter Hai Phong city, which means that the ship has to wait 14 days at the port, which incurs a lot of costs. Meanwhile, in fact, crew members only go through Hai Phong, not stay.

"Therefore, the Ministry of Transport needs to suggest to provinces and cities to create conditions for crew members who have PCR test certificates and accept COVID-19 prevention rules to be able to board the ship," Mr. Tinh suggested. Similarly, Mr. Duong Ngoc Tu, Deputy Director of Vinaship Shipping Company, said that the ship of this unit mainly docks at Quang Ninh seaport for cargo handling. However, at present, the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province has issued a regulation that people from outside the province must have a valid PCR test certificate and meet 2 doses of the vaccine. This regulation makes the replacement of crew members of the unit difficult when the rate of 2nd injection of crew members is quite low.

It should be understood that the vaccination mechanism depends on the allocation of the authorities, not the crew who want to be vaccinated can immediately inject. Therefore, the locality needs to consider and relax regulations on vaccination, allow crewmembers with PCR test certificates and travel from green areas to move through the province to serve replacement work. Another difficulty that maritime enterprises are facing is that the rate of issuing road permits in localities is currently too low compared to human resource needs.

The Ministry of Transport is committed to not letting congestion of maritime activities affect the transportation of goods. Illustrated photo.

According to Mr. Ngo Anh Tuan, General Secretary of the Association of Maritime Agents and Brokers, currently, in Ho Chi Minh City, the amount of travel paper granted to agents is very limited, each enterprise only has 1-2 people allowed to travel. grant. Meanwhile, the implementation of regulations on immigration procedures or when the ship has problems also need the presence of agents to solve. In the context of the epidemic, foreign ships limit people on board, the role of maritime agents is even more urgent. In the time of entering the port of each container ship is usually very fast, only from 20 to 26 hours, it is difficult to carry out the procedures for the ship to enter and exit the port of the agent, especially those ships at midnight. .

According to statistics, currently there are only about 250 shipping agents in Ho Chi Minh City, Visaba recommends the local authorities to consider and strengthen the issuance of travel permits for agents to ensure that the epidemic prevention conditions are released. night road handling procedures for boats.

Mr. Hoang Hong Giang, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Maritime Administration also admitted that currently in Ho Chi Minh City and some localities, only 10% is given to employees of shipping lines, agents, etc., affecting the delivery process. , increasing the risk of inventory at the port. Leaders of the Maritime Administration added that, according to preliminary statistics, up to now, more than 4,200 crew members have been vaccinated at seaports; The number of officers and employees working at the seaport is more than 19,400 people and nearly 2,500 employees of shipping lines, pilots, agents and maritime services have been vaccinated.

Worried about broken production chain

Participating in the meeting, Mr. Ho Kim Lan, General Secretary of the Vietnam Seaport Association (VPA) expressed that "in fact, there are many cargo manufacturing enterprises that have to suspend, expand or reduce production, many factories had to close due to a case of F0 infection or lack of facilities to organize "3 on-the-spot" events, affecting production... The association suggested relevant ministries and sectors, including Industry and Trade, need to There must be a careful assessment of whether or not there is a risk of breaking supply chains, leading to market loss, from which to have more radical and effective solutions.

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The suggested that localities should give priority to vaccination against COVID-19 for workers at seaports, crew members and other subjects working at joint manufacturing enterprises. related to the import and export chain of goods. At the same time, Minister The expressed: “Locals also need to reconsider the issue of road permits. Operation at seaports is special, in order to maintain it, there must be enough forces from customs, port authorities, health care workers, drivers, forwarding agents to workers, etc. The rate of issuing road permits must reach 70. - 80% to ensure enough human resources to participate in exploitation at the port area, not only 10-20% as at present, "Minister The said.

He also said that currently, the Ministry of Transport is also directing the development of a plan to organize traffic and organize transport activities in the new situation when localities ease the distance. “The Ministry of Transport is committed to directing and checking daily the entire operation of ports, any content related to transport, businesses need to immediately report to the hotline for the Ministry of Transport to urge. processed immediately. If there is any problem, the Ministry will immediately work with that locality, absolutely not to cause traffic jams, affecting goods," the Minister emphasized.