FOREIGN SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN JULY 1966

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T02095R000800070058-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 18
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 1, 2008
• Sequence Number: 58
• Publication Date: August 1, 1966
• Content Type: IM

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No. _ > b
CIA/RR EM 66-38
August 1966
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
FOREIGN SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM
IN JULY 1966
MORI
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
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GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
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FOREWORD
The data in this memorandum are preliminary and subject to modi-
fication 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. All data on cargoes carried are expressed in metric tons. 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 memoranda.
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Summary . . . . . . . . . . . .
Page
I. Communist Shipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II. Free World Shipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
III. Cargoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1. North Vietnam: Foreign-Flag Ship Arrivals at North
Vietnam, July 1966 and January-,July 1966 . . 8
2. North Vietnam: Tonnage of Foreign-Flag Ship Arrivals,
July 1966 and January-July 1966 . . . ., 9
3. North Vietnam: Identified Imports Carried by Foreign-
Flag Ships, July 1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4. North Vietnam: Identified Exports Carried by Foreign-
Flag Ships, July 1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11
Illustrations
Figure 1. North Vietnam: Foreign Ship Arrivals,
Monthly Average 1965 and January-
July 1966 (chart) following page . . . . . . . 2
Figure 2. Soviet Merchant Ship Svirsk with a Deck Cargo
of Eight LAZ-690 Cranes (photograph)
following page . . . , . , . . . . . , .
Figure 3. Soviet Merchant Ship Sovetsk with a. Deck Cargo
of Trucks, Tractors, and Construction Equip-
ment (photograph) following page . . . . . .
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FOREIGN SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM
IN JULY 1966*
Summary
Highlights of North Vietnam's seaborne trade in July were:
- a new high volume of Soviet ships and cargoes
- the reduction of Free World shipping to a single call
- the disruption of seaborne deliveries of petroleum
- a continuing decline in coal shipments from Cam Pha
- the resumption of apatite exports'.*
Twenty-seven foreign merchant ships called at North Viet-
nam in July, including 13 Soviet dry cargo ships, the largest
monthly total on record (see Figure 1). Only one call was made
by a Free World ship, but Chinese Communist and Eastern Euro-
pean ships arrived in near-normal numbers as shown below:
1966 Monthly Averages
June July 1965 January-June 1966
Total
29
27
44
34
Communist
24
26
23
25
USSR
12
13
7
11
Eastern Europe
3
3
4
3
Communist China
9
10
12
11
Free World
5
1
21.
9
United Kingdom
1
1
11
6
Other
4
0
10
3
This memorandum was produced by CIA. Aside from the
normal substantive exchange with other agencies at the working
level, this memorandum has not been coordinated outside CIA.
It was prepared by the Office of Research and Reports; the esti-
mates and conclusions represent the best judgment of the
Directorate of Intelligence as of 19 August 1966.
For details on ship arrivals and the type and distribution of
cargo, see Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4.
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VLJ1~.L 1
Identified seaborne imports of goods other than POL reached
the record volume of 80, 500 tons, 76 percent of which. arrived on
Soviet ships. Fertilizers and miscellaneous and general cargoes
made up the largest share of the total. No shipments of arms or
ammunition were detected.
The destruction wrought by airstrikes disrupted imports of
POL to North Vietnam. A Soviet tanker that arrived the third week
of June with 10, 000 tons of gasoline remained until 14 August. A
tanker carrying 3, 900 tons of gasoline was diverted to Shanghai,
and a 10, 000-ton shipment originally destined for North Vietnam
was sent instead to consumers in Poland and Finland. Slightly less
than 1, 000 tons of POL arrived by sea, all in containers aboard dry
cargo ships.
Apatite was shipped from Haiphong for the first time since
August 1965, but the July total of seaborne exports was reduced
to about one-half the monthly level of the first quarter because of
declining coal shipments from bomb-damaged facilities at CELrn Pha.
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44
1966
Free World
Communist
China
USSR
Eastern European
Communist Countries
1965
MONTHLY AVERAGE
North Vietnam: Foreign Ship Arrivals*
Monthly Average 1965 and January-July 1966
J F M A M J J A S
Month
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1. Communist Shipping
Twenty-six Communist-flag ships called at North Vietnam in July.
Soviet ships predominated with a record total of 13 arrivals, all of
which were dry cargo ships. =< Ten of the Soviet ships, including one
chartered by Vietfracht (North Vietnam's ship-chartering agency),
arrived from Soviet ports and three Soviet ships charted to Vietfracht
arrived from non-Soviet ports. These ships established a new record
for Soviet dry cargo deliveries in a single month -- 61, 900 tons -- and
accounted for 76 percent of all non-POL cargoes identified aboard
arriving foreign merchant ships. Although 12 of the 13 inbound Soviet
ships carried cargoes, only 6 of the 12 Soviet.ships that sailed from
North Vietnam in July did so. Only two loaded cargoes for Soviet ports.
Ten Chinese Communist ships arrived at North Vietnam in July, all
from Chinese ports. Cargo was identified aboard only two of the inbound
Chinese ships, but substantial deliveries probably were made by all of
the seven that sailed directly to Haiphong, the principal port for incom-
ing cargoes. Seven Chinese ships, including four that had first called at
Haiphong, sailed from the coal ports for China, presumably fully loaded
with anthracite.
The three Polish-flag ships that called at North Vietnam in July
were in liner service for the Polish Ocean Lines (PLO). One arrived
with cargoes from European ports and two arrived from Japan en route
to Europe. Contrary to reports that the bombing of POL depots near
Haiphong harbor in June and July had prompted PLO officials to halt
service to that port, Polish cargo liners are continuing to load for
North Vietnam.
II. Free World Shipping
One Free World ship, a Hong Kong-owned British-flag ship under
time charter to Communist China, called at North Vietnam in July bring-
ing a cargo of sugar and gypsum from China. A French ship also called
at Haiphong, but only to take on the bodies of French soldiers for return
to their homeland.
Only 22, 200 tons of commercial cargoes were carried by the Free
World ships that sailed to and from North Vietnam in July. The trans-
port of North Vietnam's seaborne trade by Free World ships in recent
The previous high montll.y total of 12 Soviet ships was attained three
times: in January 1965 and in March and June 1966. In each case,
tankers accounted for two of the total number of arrivals.
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months has fallen to only a fraction of previous levels, both in terms of
volume and as a share of total cargoes, as shown in the following tabula-
tion:
Monthly Average
1965 January-June 1966 July _-966
Seaborne trade (Thousand tons) 200.8 187.3 151
Of which:
Free World (Thousand tons) 1-25.5 63-4 2'2.2
ships
Percentage of
seaborne trade
c:rried by Free
World ships 63 34 15
Effective Free World restrictions on merchant ship sailings to North
Vietnam, and the inability of North Vietnam to provide coal-for export,
are the principal reasons for the decline.
Desertions of crewmen unwilling to jeopardize their safety by sail-
ing to North Vietnamese waters, despite double pay, remain as an
occasional nuisance to Free World ships. To alleviate this problem,
North Vietnamese officials recently offered to provide Vietnamese sea-
men to fill the vacancies in crews of Free World ships under charter
to Vietfracht. There are, however, no indications that the offer has
been accepted. With the obvious intent of encouraging foreign ships to
continue trading with North Vietnam, Haiphong shipping officials, re-
cently have made unusual efforts to entertain officers and crewmen of
visiting foreign merchant ships.
III. Cargoes
Foreign merchant ships carried about 151, 000 tons of cargoes to and
from North Vietnam in July, compared with an average monthly volume
of 1.87, 300 tons in the first half of the year. Unusually large imports
The comparison is made of volumes of cargoes detected aboard for-
eign merchant ships. These are believed to be quite complete for all
but the Chinese Communist ships, for which only fragmentary cargo
information is available. The volumes of coal shipments are largely
estimates.
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of fertilizer and general cargoes, supplemented by the first export ship-
ments of apatite in nearly a year, were insufficient to offset the absence
of tanker deliveries of POL and the dwindling exports of coal from Cam
Pha. No shipments of arms or ammunition were detected.
Identified seaborne imports totaled 81, 500 tons, slightly more than
the monthly average for the first half of the year, These imports con-
sisted mainly of 46, 500 tons of miscellaneous and general cargoes and
27, 700 tons of Soviet fertilizers, but also included 6, 200 tons of bulk
foodstuffs consisting of 2, 200 tons of rice and 4, 000 tons of Cuban sugar
from Communist China, Most of the 46, 500 tons of miscellaneous and
general cargo imports originated in the USSR and Eastern Europe and
included steel products from the USSR, trucks, tractors, and construc-
tion equipment from the USSR and Eastern Europe, and 3, 000. tons of
Chinese gypsunio(see Figures 2 and 3). No imports of timber or
Chinese coking coal were detected..
Slightly less than 1, 000 tons of POL arrived by sea in July, com-
pared with a monthly average of 24, 300 tons during January-May. The
entire amount was shipped in containers aboard Soviet and Polish dry
cargo ships. Shipments of packaged POL averaged 1, 100 tons a month
in the first half of this year. An additional 3, 900 tons of POL was to
have been delivered to North Vietnam in July by a Soviet tanker, but
the tanker was diverted to Shanghai. The POL probably will be shipped
by rail or coastal vessels to North Vietnam. Another Soviet tanker that
loaded 10, 000 tons of petroleum for North Vietnam at a Black Sea port
early in July sailed instead to Baltic ports and delivered the POL to
consumers in Poland and Finland, The diversions presumably were
made because of the effects of US airstrikes on storage, handling, and
transport facilities and perhaps because of a. fear of additional strikes.
The Soviet tanker Komsomol, which arrived at North Vietnam in
mid-June with 10, 000 tons of gasoline, finally departed 8 weeks later.
There are indications that the Komsomol may have discharged a small
portion of its cargo at Haiphong prior to the 29 June air strike against
the POL storage tanks there, although it was in the lower part of the
harbor away from the oil pier during the strike. On 5 July, it was
sighted at the Le Goeland anchorage (20 53 N 107 07 E) off Hon Gay
where it remained until. its departure. Photography of the Komsomol
on 11 July shows that little, if any, of its cargo had been discharged up
to that time. The destruction of much of North Vietnam's POL storage
capacity shortly after the Komsomol's arrival., and the threat of
Prior to May 1966, the discharge time for Soviet tankers at North
Vietnam averaged about seven days.
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additional airstrikes, required that the tanker be unloaded into small
craft, which apparently began late in July. Although the North Viet-
namese recently had used this procedure for discharging other Soviet
tankers, discharge of the Komsomol probably was delayed by the con-
fusion caused by the series of attacks on POL storage facilities. Four
loaded 150-foot POL barges being towed away from the tanker were
attacked and sunk on 12 August by US planes, and the Komsomol de-
parted two days later. It is not known whether the tanker was fully
discharged when it departed.
Seaborne exports from North Vietnam in July remained low with
a total volume of only 69, 500 tons, compared with average monthly
exports of 137, 000 tons in the first quarter of 1966. Lagging coal
shipments accounted for all of the decline in export volume; seaborne
exports of cement, pig iron, and miscellaneous commodities held
steady. Although seaborne coal exports in July exceeded those of
June, shipments from Cam Pha continued the decline apparent since
April, as shown in the following tabulation:
Thousand Metric Tons
Monthly Average
January-March 1966
April
May
June
Jul
Seaborne coal exports
127.1
82.9
56.6
42.5
45.1
From Cam Pha
118.0
72.3
36.7
26.8
21.7
From Hon Gay
9.1
10.6
19.9
15.7
23?4
The reduction in shipments from Cam Pha is the result of damage
inflicted on its coal-washing and grading plant by US airstrikes in
April. Post-strike shipments of coal from that port have been made
largely from previously accumulated stockpiles. Exports from Cam
Pha will remain low until the coal-washing plant is repaired.
Japanese importers have shown considerable concern over North
Vietnam's inability to provide anthracite in the desired volumes and
grades and are seeking supplementary suppliers. North Vietnam's
coal shipments to Japan have averaged 25, 000 tons a month this year,
compared with 46, 900 tons a month in 1965. Of the 45, 100 tons of
coal exported by North Vietnam in July, 25, 000 tons went to Japan
and the rest to China.
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SOVIET MERCHANT SHIP "SOVETSK" ENROUTE HAI PHONG
FIGURE 2. SOVIET MERCHANT SHIP SVIRSK WITH A DECK CARGO OF EIGHT LAZ-69 CRANES
JAH 11-0.
ZIL-555 DUMP TRUCK TOTAL 81 T-108 CRAWLER TRACTOR [TOTAL 21) D-354 TOWED SCRAPER (TOTAL 1( OT-54 CRAWLER TRACTOR, (TOTAL 1 1
FIGURE 3. SOVIET MERCHANT SHIP SOVETSK WITH A DECK CARGO OF TRUCKS, TRACTORS,
AND CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT
CONFIDENTIAL
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v vflJ_, 1
Apatite appeared on the list of seaborne exports in July for the
first time since August 1965. Seaborne shipments of apatite averaged
43, 800 tons a month in the first half of 1965, but ceased following the
interdiction of the rail line connecting the mines at Lao Cai with
Haiphong, although stockpiles of apatite were accumulated at Haiphong
during periods when the line was open. North Korea took 7, 900 tons
in July and 2, 500 tons were loaded for Communist China. Both coun-
tries had been among the principal importers of North Vietnam's
apatite before the supply was cut off.
Cargo operations at Haiphong were seriously hampered during
July by frequent air raid alarms that sent port workers to shelters.
These frequent interruptions and the exceptional volume of incoming
cargoes caused many of the Soviet merchant ships that arrived in June
and July to be tied up for three or four weeks. Under normal condi-
tions they could expect to clear the port within ten days of their arrival.
Incoming cargoes jammed the port and overflowed into surrounding
areas, indicating that transport facilities out of Haiphong nay have
been overtaxed.
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OLVitL
North Vietnam: Foreign-Flag Ship Arrivals at North Vietnam a/
July 1966 and January-July 1966
July 1966
Januar; -J~ my 1