Freight to rise for Vietnam seafood exporters on new emission rules

Containers are transferred from a truck to a cargo ship at the international cargo terminal of a port in Hai Phong. Photo by AFP.

Many of them have received notices from shipping companies of freight increases of $135-220 per container in the new year, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said in a press release.

For instance, freight to Japan would cost as much as $240 per container, it estimated.

From January 1, 2020, new limits on sulfur content if fuel adopted in 2016 under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) will take effect. The new cap will be 0.5 percent, down from the current 3.5 percent.

Most marine fuels currently have a sulfur content of 2.7 percent, according to VASEP.

The rules will affect ships owned by 170 countries that have adopted MARPOL, including Vietnam and the U.S.

From 2020 Contracting States of MARPOL will begin to monitor ships and can detain any found to violate emissions rules.

MARPOL is an international convention covering the prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships, developed through the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency that deals with maritime safety and security.