FOREIGN SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN SEPTEMBER 1966

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T02095R000800070060-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 1, 2008
• Sequence Number: 60
• Publication Date: October 1, 1966
• Content Type: IM

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SECRET
No. 157
CIA/RR EM 66-50
October 1966
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
FOREIGN SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN SEPTEMBER 1966
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
SECRET
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
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The data in this memorandum are preliminary and subject to
modification as additional information becomes available. Significant
changes may occur in data on ship arrivals and cargoes from Commu-
nist 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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CONTENTS
Page
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
I.
Communist Shipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
II.
Free World Shipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
III.
Cargoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
IV.
Soviet Shipments of Miscellaneous and General
Cargoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
1.
North Vietnam: Foreign-Flag Ship Arrivals,
September and January-September 1966 . . . . . .
9
2.
North Vietnam: Tonnage of Foreign-Flag Ship
Arrivals, September and January-September 1966 .
10
3.
North Vietnam: Identified Imports Carried
by Foreign-Flag Ships, September 1966. . . . . .
11
4.
North Vietnam: Identified Exports Carried
by Foreign-Flag Ships, September 1966. . . . . .
12
Figure 1. North Vietnam: Foreign Ship Arrivals,
Monthly Average 1965 and January-
September 1966 (chart) following page . . . 2
Figure 2. North Vietnam: Principal Maritime Ports,
Anchorages, and Shipping Channels (map)
following page . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Figure 3. Miscellaneous and General Cargoes Delivered
to North Vietnam from the USSR, First
Three Quarters 1965 and 1966 (chart)
following page . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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5E(JK1c1'
FOREIGN SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN SEPTEMBER 1966,"
Summary
North Vietnam's seaborne foreign trade declined to a record low
volume in September, primarily because of the cumulative effects of
bomb damage on exports of coal and apatite. ** Seaborne imports of
principal bulk cargoes -- fertilizers, petroleum, and foodstuffs -- were
well below the monthly average of the first half of this year. Deliveries
of manufactured goods, however, were well above the monthly levels of
last year and the first half of this year and helped to prolong port con-
gestion at Haiphong.
Foreign ships, mostly Communist, made 26 calls at North Vietnam
in September (see Figure 1), approximately the average monthly number
during the past six months, and the distribution by flag changed little, as
shown in the following tabulation:
Monthly Averages
1966
1965 April-September August September
44
27
22
26
23
23
19
22
USSR
7
11
11
7
Eastern Europe
4
3
1
5
Communist China
12
9
7
10
Free World
21
4
3
4
United. Kingdom
11
3
1
2
Other
10
1
2
2
* This memorandum was produced by CIA. It was prepared by the
Office of Research. and Reports, and information on ship arrivals was
coordinated with the Office of Naval Intelligence; the estimates and con-
clusions represent the best judgment of the Directorate of Intelligence
as of 19 October 1966.
** For details on ship arrivals and the type and distribution of cargo,
see Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4.
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SECRET
Shipments of coal, North Vietnam's principal seaborne export, fell.
to the record low volume of 36, 300 tons in September, and there were no
seaborne shipments of apatite -- normally North Vietnam's next largest
export.
Seaborne deliveries of petroleum in September, almost all of which
was discharged into barges, totaled 14, 000 tons, compared with a monthly
average of 22, 100 tons in the first half of this year and 14, 200 tons in
1965. Only three Soviet tankers have been offloaded at North Vietnam
since the bombing of petroleum storage and discharge facilities com-
menced in June. No single remaining POL terminal can accommodate the
cargo of a Leningrad -class tanker, but the North Vietnamese have demon-
strated a good capability to discharge tankers into POL barges. The
lvloskovskiy Festival, which arrived in mid-September, discharged nearly
1 1, 000 tons of petroleum within 16 days into barges that moved mostly
by night.
Imports of miscellaneous and general cargoes totaled 43, 000 ,:ons in
September, well above the level for the first half of this year, and more
than twice the level of last year. In the first nine months of this year,
Soviet shipments of miscellaneous and general cargoes --- mostly ma--
chinery and steel products -- increased 70 percent over the same period
of 1965.
No shipments of arms or ammunition were detected.
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1966
Free World
Communist
China
Eastern European
Communist Countries
20
J*
North Vietnam: Foreign Ship Arrivals
Monthly Average 1965 and January - September 1966
M
1965
MONTHLY AVERAGE
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M
J J
Month
0
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I, Communist Shipping
Communist ships made 22 calls at North Vietnamese ports in Sep-
tember, or about 85 percent of the total number of calls, and carried
80 percent of the identified seaborne trade of North Vietnam.
Ten Chinese Communist ships arrived, including five at Haiphong
(presumably to offload) and another five at the coal ports. One Chinese
ship delivered cargo from Poland, and the other nine arrived from
Chinese ports. Ten Chinese ships departed North Vietnam, one with
small amounts of cargo for Japan and Eastern European destinations,
and the other nine went to China -- five of them with cargoes of coal.
Seven Soviet ships arrived at North Vietnam in September, about
four less than the average monthly level for this year, and carried 54
percent of identified import cargoes. Five of the Soviet ships made
deliveries from Soviet ports, and two arrived from Hong Kong and
Japan under charter to North Vietnam. Seven Soviet ships sailed from
North Vietnam in September; one carried fruit to Nakhodka, four car-
ried coal and pig iron to Japan, and two left in ballast.
Polish-flag ships, absent in August, made three calls in September.
Two were in liner service, one outbound from Europe and the other on
the homeward voyage. An Albanian-flag ship and a Bulgarian bulk car-
rier under charter to North Vietnam accounted for the balance of calls
made by Communist ships in September. The Albanian-flag ship and
one of the Polish-flag ships are jointly owned by China and the Eastern
European countries whose flags they carry.
Free World Shipping
Two British-flag ships and two Cypriot-flag ships called at North
Vietnam in September. The British ships belong to Hong Kong com-
panies and were under time charter to Communist China. Both Cypriot-
flag ships were under time charter to North Vietnam, although one was
operating under a subcharter to China to carry coal. Three of these
Free World ships carried inbound cargoes (from China and North
Korea), which accounted for 25 percent of identified seaborne imports
to North Vietnam in September.
British and Cypriot flags have predominated among the Free World
ships serving North Vietnam for the past six months. All of the 26
Free World ships that called at North Vietnam during the six-month
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VL