The number of vessels has decreased by about 15 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The Quảng Ninh-China route has seen the number of arrivals decreasing by 48 per cent.

However, the Vietnam Maritime Administration said the volume of goods passing through Vietnamese ports had grown in the first two months of this year, estimated at nearly 95.7 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent.

Container volume was estimated at more than 3.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), an increase of 14 per cent compared to last year.

The Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ saw a volume up by 50 per cent, due to coal-fired power plants that needed fuel to operate.

The provinces such as Quảng Ngãi, Quảng Trị and Huế also witnessed an increase in goods volume of between 18 and 23 per cent.

However, some ports reported a drop in the volume of goods, including Quảng Nam (72 per cent), An Giang and Nam Định (33-36 per cent), and HCM City (18 per cent).

The Việt Nam Maritime Administration told Báo Giao Thông (Transport) newspaper that it had been sending updates to port authorities to co-ordinate closely with relevant agencies to control ships, boats and crew members entering and leaving ports, especially those from China, Japan and South Korea.

Ships arriving, leaving or transiting should continue to operate normally to ensure import and export activities, but measures needs to be taken to prevent and control the pandemic.

For passenger ships, the Việt Nam Maritime Administration required port authorities to co-ordinate with the medical quarantine centre and tour operators to request crew members and passengers to make health declarations before embarking. — VNS