Thailand
Myanmar: Inland Water Transport to introduce container barges and cut trade costs
Myanmar: Inland Water Transport to introduce container barges and cut trade costs
Tuesday, 02 August 2016 – In a step designed both to reduce transportation costs and relieve congestion on the roads, Inland Water Transport (IWT) is about to introduce the first container barge to ferry goods from ports to industrial zones, with three vessels to be introduced each year for the next five years.State-owned IWT’s managing director U Zaw Win told The Myanmar Times that the nation’s waterway facilities will be upgraded to allow the vessels to play a larger role in carrying trade.
IWT, which is part of the Ministry of Transport and Communication, signed an agreement to build the container buses with SA Marine Company at the end of 2014 by arrangement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The first 60-metre long, 15m wide container ship was built in Yangon, at Sinmalite dock in Kyeemyindaing township, with extensive use of Japanese technology. It cost K440 million to build and can carry up to 22, 12m (40-foot) containers. Read More?