SHIPPING TO CAMBODIA IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF 1967

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T02095R000800070092-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 1, 2008
• Sequence Number: 92
• Publication Date: January 1, 1968
• Content Type: IM

I
Approved For Release 2008/04/15: CIA-RDP78TO2095R000800070092-4
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Secret
Intelligence Memorandum
Shipping to Cambodia
in the Third Quarter of 1967
MORI/CDF
Secret
Copy No. 121
ER IM 68-6
January 1968
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SECRET
This memorandum analyzes the pattern of foreign
shipping to Cambodian ports to help in determining
whether arms or military-related items are reaching
the Viet Cong through Cambodia. 7
Since there are only minor
seasonal variations in shipping to Cambodia, most
comparisons in this memorandum are made with
previous quarters of 1967 rather than with the third
quarter of 1966. The data for the third quarter of
1967 are preliminary and may be modified as additional
information becomes available. For the purposes
of this.memorandum, Yugoslavia is considered to be
a country of the Free "World. Cargo weights are
expressed in metric tons.
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Cambodia: Ports and Connecting Sea Routes
International shipping route
Road
-a --+- Railroad
--F- + Railroad under construction
p 25 50 75 Milcs
f TrT
0 25 50 75 Kilomg[ers
Sen mon oromo
14
'Sihari ikui
Fro
Bang
iTa
Chau
Port Data
Phnom Penh is located more'than 200 miles-from the Sea.an the Mekong
Oliver and until recent years,. has been q.ambodia's only major port. The
old and poorly developed port facilities are inadequate to serve Cambodia's
present international commercial, needs. Draft limitations on the Me=kong
River prevent ships larger than 6,000 deadweight tons (DWT) from r cach-
ing Phnom Penh.
Sihanoukville is a large, modern port on the Gulf of Siam, which wa s opened
in 1960 to give Cambodia direct access to the sea., Sihanoukville can
accommodate large merchant ships up to 15, 000 DWT. The completion of
two new piers sometime this year should enable Sihanoukville-to t.andle
more than one million tons of traffic annually.
Overland Transportation Between Sihanoukville and Phnom Pe ah
Roads all cargo traffic between Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh is hauled
by trucks on either of two roads, Route 3 and Route 4, that link the two
cities. Although both roads are well surfaced and all-weather, they have
deteriorated over time because of poor maintenance.
Rail -- a new railway line connecting Sihanoukville with Kampot and Phnom
Penh is expected to be ready for-service by late 1968 or early 1969.
Tay
Ninh
Saigon
Rha Be
SOUTH
CHINA
SEA
From
Singapore
From Singapore
and Europe
From North Vietnam, Communist China,
104 Hong Kong and Japan 106
NAMES AND BOUNDARY REPRESENTATION
ARE NOT NECESSARILY AUTHORITATIVE
VIETINA M
From
Hong Kong
and Japan
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vLV1X.L' 1
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
11 January 1968
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
Shipping to Cambodia
in the Third Quarter of 1967
Summary
Merchant ship calls at Cambodian ports (see the
map) in the third quarter of 1967 were slightly
higher than in the two previous quarters. Ships of
Communist countries, which call only at Sihanoukville,
accounted for six of the 153 arrivals, down from 13
in the first quarter and eight in the second quarter
of 1967. Total cargoes delivered in the third
quarter were slightly lower than in the previous
quarter and substantially lower than in the first
quarter. Cargoes loaded in Communist countries,
which are discharged only at Sihanoukville, fell
sharply in the third quarter,
Note: This memorandum was produced by CIA. It was
prepared by the Office of Economic Research.
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Ship Calls and Cargoes
1. A total of 153 ships called at Cambodian
ports in the third quarter of 1967, up slightly
from the first and second quarters of the year.
Cargoes discharged in the third
quarter were slightly lower than in the second
quarter of 1967 and more.than 25 percent lower than
in the first quarter. The port of Phnom Penh on the
Mekong River handled about 70 percent of seaborne
imports in the third quarter, and the port of
Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Siam handled the
remainder. The growing importance of Phnom Penh
in 1967 relative to Sihanoukville is shown in the
following tabulation:
Ship Calls
Phnom Penh a/ 74 90 97
First Second Third
Quarter Quarter Quarter
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Shipping to Sihanoukville
Ship Traffic
2. Free World ships accounted for 50 of the 56
ship calls at Sihanoukville during the third
quarter. Most of these calls were made by French,
Greek, Panamanian, British and Danish ships (see:
Table 1). Nine Free World ships under charter to
Communist China called at Sihanoukville in the
third quarter compared with nine and twelve in the
first and second quarters, respectively.
3. Shins of Communist countries made six calls
at Sihanoukville in the third quarter of 1967, com-
pared with eight in the second quarter and 13 in
the first quarter. Two of the calls were made by
Polish cargo liners operating between Europe and.
the Far East. One call was made by a Bulgarian
ship, which arrived in ballast to load cargo for
Europe, and one by a Soviet ship,
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Shipping to Phnom Penh
Ship Traffic
10. Forty of the 97 merchant ships that called
at Phnom Penh in the third quarter were tankers and
57 were dry cargo ships (see Table 3). Ships of,
seven Free World nations called during the period.
There were 31 calls by Panamanian ships, 25 by
Japanese ships, and 12 each by ships flying the
flags of Cambodia, Singapore, and France (see
Table 1). Despite the convoy restrictions placed
on ship movements on the Mekong River in November
1966, the number of calls made by merchant ships
at Phnom Penh was slightly higher during the first
three quarters of 1967 than during the first t:aree
quarters of 1966.*
'F Since late 1964, international shipping to Phnom
Penh via the Mekong River has been subject to regulations
issued by the government of South Vietnam. The latest
regulations, issued in November 1966, require that all
ships transiting the Mekong River on international
voyages to and from Phnom Penh sail in convoys escorted
by South Vietnamese gunboats.. Four round trip convoys
are permitted each month with a maximum turnaround
period of 72 hours in Cambodia.
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Cargoes
11. The volume of shipments to Phnom Penh was
higher in the third quarter of 1967 than in either
of the two previous quarters,
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