THE PROCESS OF SHIP RECEIVING ANH BERTH ALLOCATION
AT SAIGON PORT

In order to improve services quality and to meet customers’ demand for quick ship turnaround time, avoiding ship waiting time for berth, Saigon Port hereby keeps Ship Owners, Cargo Owners, Agents and Customers advised of the following procedure of receiving ships at the Port:

1. The policy and principle of receiving ships at the Saigon Port:

a) Providing favorable conditions for prompt receiving and clearing of ships, speeding up the throughput of cargo through Saigon Port to meet the demand of ship owners, cargoes owners and customers.

b) Priority given to receiving and serving ships of fixed schedule; ships transporting cargoes to be handled mainly by modern mechanical equipments using less labour, not hazardous and not causing pollution to the environment.

c) Ensuring the productivity of cargo handling meeting the requirement of clearing ships quickly in the normal operating condition of Saigon Port (when the number of ships entering the port at the same time does not exceed the port’s handling capacity and the ability of receiving ships at wharves or buoys.)

d) The priority of receiving ships in part 2 below is applied in case of the number of ships calling the port exceeds the port’s handling and receiving capacity

e) Ensuring Saigon Port’s business operating efficiency following the indicators of the State’s Order in the process of receiving and clearing ships.

f) Maintaining openness and transparency in receiving and allocation of ships to prevent and fight corruptive and negative actions.

2. The priority order in receiving ship:

a) The priority order in receiving ships is applied as follows in case of the number of ships calling the port exceeds the Saigon port’s handling capacity and the ability of receiving ships at wharves or buoys:

- Tàu định tuyến theo lịch trình thường xuyên về Cảng (container, hàng sắt thép, hàng khác..).
- Tàu khách, tàu quân sự (chỉ ưu tiên về thời gian cập bến ngay khi tàu đến phao số 0 tại Vũng Tàu, không ưu tiên vị trí cập bến, các tàu này nếu muốn cập cầu MM1 thì phải trả chi phí dọn dời bến thông qua hợp đồng ưu tiên cầu bến với Cảng).
- Tàu của Khách hàng truyền thống thường xuyên đưa hàng về Cảng.
- Tàu của Khách hàng có hợp đồng thuê kho bãi dài hạn của Cảng để chứa hàng.
- Tàu có thông báo sớm với Cảng về thời gian tàu đến phao số 0 tại Vũng Tàu và đã có thiết bị làm hàng, Chủ hàng đã ký hợp đồng với Cảng, đủ phương tiện tập kết dỡ hàng và nhận hàng trong thời hạn thỏa thuận với Cảng, sẵn sàng giải phóng hàng nhanh.
- Tàu đưa hàng vào lưu tại kho bãi Cảng, không đóng bao, đóng gói ngay tại cầu Cảng.
- Ships with frequent schedule to the port (container, iron, steel, …)
- Passenger ships, military ships (priority given only to the berthing time when the ship arrives at Buoy 0 at Vung Tau, no priority given to berthing position. If these ships want to berth at MM1 wharf, they have to pay the fee of clearing the berth through the contract for priority berthing with the port).
- Ships of traditional customers frequently using the port.
- Ships of customers having long-term sheds/yards renting contracts with Saigon Port.
- Ships placing early notice to the port on the time arriving at Buoy 0 at Vung Tau and equipped with cargo handling gears; the cargo owners have already signed contracts with the Port and have enough transportation means to deliver/receive cargoes on agreed schedule, ready dispatch cargoes quickly.
- Ships unloading cargo to storage without bagging, packaging at wharf side.

b) For ships having the same priority order, berth allocation shall be on a first come first serve basis.

3. Ship receiving capability at Saigon Port:

Saigon Port is capable of receiving ships registered to call at the same time as follows:

a) For ships with frequent scheduled call to the Port (container, iron & steel, other) shall have berthing priority, ready for handling following the routine operations plan of the Port.

b) For bulk cargo ships, based on the situation of the wharves, storage, manpower, equipment to warrant productivity for quick turnaround time, Saigon Port can receive at the same time alongside maximum 02 tapioca ships, 05 bulk cargo ships for bagging, packaging at the wharf side.

c) For passenger and military ships: maximum 3 vessels at the same time.

4. The procedure of receiving vessel:

a) When ships want to berth at Saigon Port, the shipping agents should contact and give early notice to the Port with information relating to the ship, cargoes and the ETA at Buoy 0 at Vung Tau.

b) When having the Port's acceptance to receive the ship for cargo handling, at least 24 hour before the ship arrives at the Port, the Agent shall have to inform the Port of the ship’s particulars (length, height, tonnage, number of holds, ship gears…), cargoes information (type of cargoes and quantity…), list of consignees, method of taking delivery of cargo, expected time of cargo handling at the port…

c) The Agent shall have to notify the consignees having cargo onboard to directly contact the Port for signing the contract of handling, delivery, storage, bagging of cargo... for the Port to plan for acceptance, allocation of manpower, equipment for clearing the ship. In the case of having different types of cargoes or cargo owners, all cargo owners shall have to sign the contracts with Saigon Port for the port to plan handling operations for each cargo owner. After having the agreement on ship, cargo handling plans, the Port shall notify the time and berthing location. Saigon Port shall be responsible for receiving ships after all Cargo Owners have signed the contracts with the Port.

d) During the cargo operation, if the Cargo Owners fail to provide enough transportation means for cargo receipt/delivery as committed, the Port shall have the right to shift the vessel to mooring places and Saigon Port shall not be responsible for any arising costs.

5.  Measures to prevent cargo shrinkage and loss:

In order to avoid cargo shrinkage and loss during the handling, bagging, delivery operations, from 01/07/2009, all cargoes in bulk shall be delivered through the scale of Saigon Port. The method of draft survey is not applicable to transport means receiving, delivering cargoes at the Port.

Saigon Port wishes to receive cooperation, assistance, comments, support from cargo owners, ship owners, agents, customers, insurers, surveyors…and relevant organizations to enable Saigon Port to improve, upgrade its quality services, to speed up ship receipt and turnaround time, to perform well the role of a main gateway for the import and export of cargoes of Ho Chi Minh city and the Southern Focal Economic Area.

Thank you and best regards.