FOREIGN SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN JULY 1965

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01003A002300210001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 18, 2002
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: August 1, 1965
• Content Type: BRIEF

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CIA/RR GB 65-48
August 1965
Copy NOW 5
FOREIGN SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN JULY 1965
WARNING NOTICE
SENSITIVE SOURCES AND METHODS INVOLVED
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
Office of Research and Reports
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WARNING
This material contains information affecting
the National Defense of the United States
within the meaning of the espionage laws,
Title 18, USC, Secs. 793 and 794, the trans-
mission or revelation of which in any manner
to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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FOREWORD
The data in this publication are preliminary and subject to modifica-
tion as additional information becomes available. Significant changes may
occur in data on ship arrivals and cargoes from Communist China and, to
a lesser extent, in data on cargoes carried by ships of the Free World.
Data on Soviet and Eastern European ship arrivals and.cargoes and on Free
World ship arrivals are not likely to be changed significantly. As required,
changes will be reported in subsequent publications.
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FOREIGN SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN JULY 1965
Large exports of coal and apatite pushed the volume of North Vietnam's
seaborne trade in July to a new high for 1965 despite a continuing decline
in port calls by both Free World and Communist ships. Shipments of coal
and apatite were 39 and 18 percent higher, respectively, than the average
monthly shipments in the first half of this year. There were 38 calls by
foreign-flag ships at North Vietnamese ports in July 1965 as follows:
Foreign-Flag Shipping to North Vietnam in 196;
Communist countries
Free World
Total
July
June
Monthly Average.
January-July
17
18
21
21
24
27
38
42
48
Free World ships, most of them under charter to Communist China,
carried 87 percent. of North Vietnam's known seaborne exports and'. about
55 percent of the seaborne imports.
The Lebanese Government appears to be effectively implementing the
restriction it imposed in. June on trade with North Vietnam by vessels
-flying the Lebanese flag. Japanese ships continued to be excluded from
North Vietnam's ports as a result of an earlier agreement between ship-
owners and seamen.
Reluctance of crews of some Free World ships to call at North Vietnam
continues to plague both owners and charterers. Communist China's ship-
chartering organization, to which most of the Free World ships calling at
North Vietnam are chartered, continued to pay bonuses for voyages to North
Vietnam, but only when it was required to do so.
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No seaborne shipments of petroleum to Np-rth Vietnam were detected
in July, and no shipments of either arms or ammunition were identified on
Soviet, Eastern European, or Free World ships. Nothing is known of the
cargoes carried on the six Chinese Communist-flag arrivals in Haiphong
in July. Anticipated shortages of apatite for export, resulting from US
bombings of the rail line from the apatite mines at Lao Cai to Haiphong,
presumably prompted Hanoi's advice to the East German authorities to
cancel a Greek ship chartered to load apatite at Haiphong and not to resume
chartering for such cargoes unless notified by Hanoi.
Free World Shipping to North Vietnam
There were 21 calls made by Free World ships at North Vietnamese
ports in July, the lowest total since the 8 made in April. These arrivals
represented about 55 percent of the total calls made by foreign-flag ships
during the month. At least lb of these Free World ships were under charter
to either Communist China or North Vietnam.
The most frequently observed Free World flags in North Vietnam's
ports during July were those of the United Kingdom (9 calls) and Greece
(7 calls). Norwegian-flag ships also made 3 calls, ships flying the flags
of Liberia and Malta made one call each.
The average size of Free World ships arriving at North Vietnamese
ports in July was 5, 900 gross register tons (GRT), about one-fourth larger
than the average size of all Free World ships that called in the first seven
months of this year. These data reflect the heavy utilization of Free World
bulk cargo ships to carry North Vietnam's large exports of coal and apatite
in July. Free World ships carried 89 percent of the tonnage of these com-
25X1 modities exported by sea in July and carried about 87 percent of total sea-
borne exports. Free World ships also carried 55 percent of North Vietnam's
seaborne imports during the month.
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During the second week.of July the Danish Shipowners' Association
agreed to demands presented by Denmark's seven seamen's organizations
for double pay for service on ships sailing within 10 miles of either North
or South Vietnam. The terms of the agreement are similar to those
established by Norwegian owners and seamen's unions in June. No Danish
ships have visited North Vietnam this year, but Norwegian ships accounted
for 6 percent of the calls by foreign-flag ships in the first seven months of
1965.
Sinofracht, =,< to which. most of the Free World ships calling at North
Vietnam are chartered, appears to be paying bonuses for voyages to North 25X1
Vietnam only when it is required to do so. The specific bonus payments
apparently are determined through negotiation rather than in accordance
with any established schedule.
Serious uneasiness among crews of some Free World ships engaged
in North Vietnamese trade continues to plague their owners and charterers.
The captain and 28 crewmen of a Lebanese-flag ship that brought coal to
Japan under North Vietnamese charter refused to continue service with the
ship unless they were assured that it would not again visit North Vietnam.
All of the protesting crewmen were Greek nationals, one of whom was so
distressed that he attempted suicide. Press reports of the incident attrib-
uted at least part of the objections to ideological principles. Some of
the crew claimed to have fought the Communists in the Greek civil war and
objected to aiding the Communist aggression inVietnam. The most recent
reports indicated that the issue still had not been resolved.
2. Communist Shipping
There were 17 known calls by Communist ships at North Vietnamese
ports in July. Visits by Soviet ships (7) exceeded known arrivals of Corn-
munist Chinese ships (6) for the first time since January of this year.
Four Polish-flag ships also made calls at North Vietnamese ports during
the month. Two of these Polish-flag ships are owned in part by Communist
China. .
Communist China's ship-chartering organization.
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The Soviet ships carried nearly 13 percent of the identified seaborne
exports of North Vietnam in July and about 36 percent of its seaborne im-
ports. Two of the Soviet ships that arrived in July, both of which carried
coal to Japan, were under charter to North Vietnam. Cargoes brought to
Vietnam by Soviet ships consisted of fertilizer, bulk foodstuffs, and mis-
cellaneous cargo.
The Polish-flag ships transported 8 percent of the identified import
cargoes but carried only an insignificant amount of exports. Except for
one shipment of 50 metric tons (mt) of timber, all cargoes carried in and
out of Vietnam's ports on the Polish-flag ships consisted of miscellaneous
general cargoes.
Nothing is known of cargoes carried by the Chinese Communist ships.
The average size of the six Chinese Communist ships calling at North
Vietnam in July was only 2, 000 GRT - - less than one-half the average size
of the seven that called in June and considerably smaller than the average
size of the Chinese ships known to have visited North Vietnamese ports in
the first seven months of this year. The reason for this change is not
apparent but may be due in part to China's use in July of large Free World
ships to transport a major part of its imports of North Vietnamese anthra-
cite (39, 100 mt) and apatite (31, 500 rnt).
There was further evidence
during the month of continuing
close cooperation between Com-
munist China and North Vietnam
in chartering of ships. Several
Free World ships chartered to
Sinofracht still are operating
under subcharters to North
Vietnam, and some shipments
of Cuban sugar apparently are
being carried to China on ships
chartered by Hanoi. When a
THE CHINESE COMMUNIST DRY CARGO SHIP,
NAN HAI 155 (3,247 GRT), AN OCCASIONAL
CALLER AT HAIPHONG.
Lebanese ship under charter to North Vietnam was ordered out of the Viet-
namese trade, Sinofracht promptly took the ship on subcharter.
Conflicting Czechoslovak and Chinese Communist views as to whether
the jointly owned Czechoslovak-flag ship Dukla should call at North Vietnam
apparently reached an impasse in July. The Dukla, a 6, 508-GRT dry cargo
ship with a Chinese captain and a predominantly Chinese crew, is one of
several ships that are jointly owned by China and the Czechoslovak Ocean
Shipping Company. r
of
The Communist Chinese also are owners, at least in part, of a number
ships registered under the Polish and Albanian flags.
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Cargoes*
North Vietnam's seaborne trade in July reached a new monthly high for
1965, and coal was exported in record high tonnages for the second consecu-
tive month.
Large exports by sea of both coal and apatite pushed total seaborne
exports to 176, 600 mt in July. Shipments of coal amounted to 111, 200 mt,
the largest monthly volume during 1965, and apatite cargoes to 51, 900 mt.
These amounts exceeded the average monthly tonnage of exports of these
commodities in the first half of this year by 39 percent and 18 percent,
respectively. July was the first month of this year in which no shipments
of cement were identified.
Japan and Communist China were the major buyers of North Vietnam's
anthracite. Coal loadings for Japan totaled 44, 350 mt, and loadings for
China amounted to 39, 100 mt. The remainder of the coal went to Cuba
(17, 800 mt) and France (10, 000 mt). Exports of apatite were divided
between Communist China and Rumania.
Congestion at the coal ports -- Cam Pha and Hon Gai -- caused. delays
in loading of up to four days. There also were occasional shortages of
coal available for loading, possibly due to depletion of dockside stockpiles 25X1
by the unusually heavy volume of loadings in June and July.
*.k Excluding those carried by the six Chinese Communist-flag ships that
called at Haiphong in July.
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Identified seaborne imports in July totaled 58, 200 mt, of which 18, 600 mt
consisted of fertilizers, 24, 100 rot of miscellaneous cargoes, and 15, 500 nit
of bulk foodstuffs. Imports of bulk foodstuffs were more than double the
monthly average of the first half of this year but were not significantly above
the average of 13, 500 mt per month that were imported in 1964.
Although shipments of POL to North Vietnam in the first six months of
this year averaged nearly 14, 500 mt a month, with only moderate variation, no
such shipment was detected in July. No shipments of either arms or
ammunition were identified.
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42 100.0 38
18 42.9 17
Foreign-Flag Ship Arrivals in North Vietnam
June, July, and January-July 1965
Total
June July January-July
Percent Percent Percent
Num- of Num- of Num- of
Flag ber Total a/ ber Total a/ ber Total al
Total
Communist countries
USSR
Eastern Europe
Bulgaria
Czechoslovakia
Poland
France
Greece
Italy
Japan
Lebanon
Liberia
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Panama
United Kingdom
6 14.3
5 11.9
1 2.4
4 9.5
44.7
334 100.0
145 43.4.
7 18.4 48 14.4
4 10.5 31 9.3
2 0.6
4 1.2
4 10.5 25 7.5
16.7 6 15.8 66 19.8
57.1 21 55.3 189 56.6
4 1 0.3
9.5 7 18.4 25 7.5
1 0.3
3 7.1 37 1
9 2.7
1 2.6 3 0.9
1 2.6 1 0.3
1 2.4 5 1.5
3 7.1 3 7.9 20 6.0
1 0. 3
13 31.0 9 23.7 86 25.7
a. Because of rounding, components may not add to totals shown.
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Tonnage of Foreign-Flag Ship Arrivals in North Vi'.tnarn a/
June, July, and Monthly Average, January-,July 1965
t"onthly
Average;
.tune July January-July
Thousand Thousand Thousands
Gross Gross Gress
Num- Register Num- Register ?um- Register
Flag ber Tons ber Tons ber Tons
Total 42
48 229
38 2 z
Communist countries 18
108.5 17 90.8 21 104.4
38.2 7 51.7 7 41.2
USSR
Eastern Europe 5 36.7 4 26.8 4 30.5
Communist China 7 33.6 b 12.3 9 32.7
Free World 24 132.7 21 123.1
a. Many Soviet and Eastern European ships calling at North Viet-
namese ports pick up or discharge only small parts of their total
cargoes in North Vietnam, ana many of the Free World ships only pick
up export cargoes. For this reason, with the possible exception of
Chinese Communist ships, aggregate tonnage of ships calling is not
closely correlative to actual volume of carg:,es moving into and out
of North Vietnam, but these data are of value as indications of rela-
tive changes in the volume of shipping.
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Table 3
Identified North Vietnamese Imports
Carried by Foreign-Flag Ships a/
July 1965
Commodity
Ammonium
Sulfate
Grain
Flag
and Other
Fertilizers
Petro-
leum
and Other
Foodstuffs
Miscel-
laneous
Total
Total b/
18.6
0.0
15.5
24.1
58.2
Communist countries 8.6
0.0
5.5
11.8
25.9
USSR 8.6
5.5
7.2
21.3
Eastern Europe
4.6
4.6
Free World 10.0
0.0
10.0
12.3
32.3
a. Identified imports include some estimates of bulk cargoes using
methods which have proved to be highly reliable.
b. In addition, an unknown quantity of imports was carried by Chinese
Communist ships.
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Identified North Vietnamese Exports
Carried by Foreign-Flag Ships a/
July 1965
Commodity
Flag Coal
Apatite
Cement
Miscel-
laneous
Total
Total b/ 111.2
51.9
0.0
13.5
176.6
Communist countries
7.8
9.9
0.0
6.1
23-8
USSR
7.8
9.9
5.7
23.4
Eastern Europe
0.4
0.4
Free World
103.4
42.0
0.0
7.4
152.8
a. Identified exports include some estimates of bulk cargoes using
methods which have proved to be highly reliable.
b. In addition, an unknown quantity of exports was carried by Chinese
Communist ships.
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 SECRET
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10 September 1965
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Dissemination Control Branch, DD/CR
FROM : Acting Chief, Publications Staff, ORR
SUBJECT : Transmittal of Material
It is requested that the attached copies of CIA/RR CB 65-4$, P'cr:regn
44pping to North Vietnam In -914Z 1965, August 1965, Secret/No Foreign
Disaem, be forwarded as -follows:
State, INE Communications Center,
Room 6527, State Dept. Bldg.
Suggested distribution for
Embassies in Perlin, Bucharest, Moscow,
Prague,. Warsaw, Belgrade, Copenhagen,
Geneva, The Hague,, London, Oslop Paris,
Rome, Wellington, Canberrap Melbourne,
Bangkok, Djakarta, Hong Kong, Rangoon,
Kuala Lumpur, Saigon, Seoul, Singapore,
Taipei, Tokyo, Colombo, Athens,, Beirut,
Ottawa, Panama and Monrovia
25X1A
Attachments:
Copies #216 - #225., ?229 - 5C of CB 65_18
ecs CGS/Ri3
Th;,~.. d by
this mernoranrhum hzs bean ccompletedt
Date:/
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