A total of 53 container ships are scheduled to call in September at Yangon Port, according to the Myanma Port Authority.
In September, seven container vessels each run by Samudera Shipping Line and Sealand Maersk Asia, five by COSCO Shipping Line, four each by IAL Line, MSC Line, RCL Line and SITC Line, three each by Evergreen Line and PIL Line, two each by BAY Line and BLPL Shipping Line, one each by CMA CGM Line, Land & Sea Line and Ti2 Container Line are slated to dock at Yangon Port.
This year, 52 container ships each in January and February, 55 in March, 50 in April, 56 in May, 57 in June, 53 in July and 54 in August arrived at Yangon Port.
Yangon Port handled a total of 620 container vessels this year. Following the draft extension, the international ocean liners can access the inner port for now, according to the Myanma Port Authority’s statement on 22 June 2022.
After the new navigation channel (Kings Bank Channel) accessing the inner Yangon River was found, the draft extension work was accelerated. After that, the port can now handle larger ships. The container vessel (185.99-metre LOA, 35.25-metre BOA, 29,232 GRT and 2,698 TEU) Hongkong-based SITC Shipping Line docked at Asia World Port Terminal for the first time on 22 June.
That vessel is the largest ship that AWPT Port handled.
From May 2021, the arrival of the ships at terminals in Yangon has increased again. To fulfil the seaborne trade requirements, three new container vessels by Maersk Line Myanmar (SeaLand Maersk) started to run in 2021.
Earlier, the larger ships had draft problems preventing their sailing on the Yangon River. The draft was extended up to 10 metres, so the larger ocean liners could enter Thilawa Port.
The coast of Myanmar is 2,228 kilometres (1,260 nautical miles) including the Rakhine coastline (713 kilometres), delta region (437 kilometres) and Taninthayi coastline (1,078 kilometres), stretching from northern Bangladesh’s border to southern Thailand’s border area. There are 10 seaports along the coastline, including Yangon Port, Thilawa Deep Seaport, Kyaukphyu Deep Seaport, Sittway Port, Thandwe Port, Pathein Port, Mawlamyine Port, Dawei Deep Seaport, Myeik Port and Kawthoung Port.
Seaborne trade accounts for 75 per cent of foreign trade. However, Yangon Port including Thilawa terminals is the only international port and the remaining ports in eight cities are designated for the domestic way only.
Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar