CARGOES DISCHARGED AT SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA, DURING 1965 AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF THEIR DIVERSION TO THE VIET CONG

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T02095R000800040011-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 7, 2002
• Sequence Number: 11
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2002/01/29 : CIA-RDP78TO2095R000800040011-6
CARGOES DISCHARGED AT SIHANOUKVILLE CAMBODIA, DURING 1965 AND THE
LIKELIHOOD OF THEIR DIVERSION TO THE VIET CONG
.1. Introduction
In determining the extent and nature of material assistance reach-
ing the Viet Cong from outside sources via Cambodia. it is necessary to
examine both the overall movement of cargo into Cambodia's major dry
cargo port, Sihanoukville, and the manner in which certain of these
cargoes may reach the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. The first part of
this report describes the movement of cargoes into Sihanoukville dur-
ing 1965, the types of cargoes, the countries of loading, and the flags
of the ships that carried the cargoes. The second part of the report
describes the materials supplied by Cambodia to the Viet Cong, their
magnitude,, and the means by which they reach the Viet Cong.
2. Cargoes Discharged at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, in 1965
Sihanoukville is the. chief port in Cambodia for the discharge of
dry cargoes. The only other port of significance is the Mekong River
port of Phnom Penh which receives all of Cambodia's bulk petroleum im-
ports. Ship movements to Phnom Penh are subject to South Vietnamese
regulations that deny passage up the Mekong River to Communist-fla.g
ships and ships carrying cargoes of Communist origin. Over"265,000 tons
of dry cargo were discharged at Sihanoukville in 1965, and less than
80,000 tons were discharged at Phnom Penh.
In 1965, a total of 285 ship arrivals were reported in Sihanouk-
ville. This total includes tramp ships that arrived in ballast to load
export cargoes of rice, maize, rubber, and wood; large cargo liners
from Western and Eastern Europe; small cargo liners from Singapore and
Hong Kong; and tramp ships that discharged cement, coal, and a variety
of other cargoes. The tramps included Free World and Soviet ships under
time-charter to Communist China and North Vietnam. Table 1 below gives
a detailed breakdown of ship arrivals and cargo deliveries in Sihanouk=
ville during 1965 by flag.
More than half of the cargo discharged in Sihanoukville during
1965 was loaded in Communist ports. The most important countries of
loading were Communist China, which provided 80,000 tons and North
Vietnam which provided 45,000 tons. Significant quantities also were
loaded in Bulgaria, which provided 20,000 tons and the USSR, which pro-
vided 18,000 tons. Table 2 below gives the countries of loading, where
known, for all import cargoes in 1965.
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? Table 1
SHIP ARRIVALS AND CARGO DELIVERIES AT SIHANOUKVILLE
DURING 1965 -- BY FLAG
Flag
Shin Arrivals
Caro Deliveries
Metric ions)
Communist countries
60,368
Communist China
7
16,052
USSR
European Satellites
.10
27,233
Bulgaria
11,088
Czechoalavia
799
Poland "
5,196
Free World
202,236
Cambodia
9
2,965
France
63
37,710
Greece
15
29,090
Japan
20
5,374
Lebanon
7
28,305
Liberia
4
811
Malta
1
9,924
Netherlands
8
1,651
Norway
18
17, 538
Panama
51
29,645
United Kingdom
31
31,343
Yugoslavia
18
8,9580
Morocco
1
India
4
Italy
1
Switzerland
4
West Germany
2
Flag Unidentified
1.500
2
85
264,804
.
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 Table 2
CARGO DIES AT SIHANOUKVILLE DURING 1965
BY COUNTRY OF LOADING
Country of'Loading
Communist Countries
Communist China
North Vietnam
North Korea
USSR
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.European Satellites
Bulgaria
Rumania
Poland
Free World
France
Hong Kong
-Indonesia
'Japan
Singapore
South Vietnam
Thailand
West Germany
Yugoslavia
Unidentified
TOTAL
175,729
81,308
45, 436
10,832
18,059
19, 784
300
10
34, 282
920
6,132
11,760
480
8,344
490
1,485
3,312
1,391
5+,793
264, 804
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all,
The total tonnage discharged in?Sihanoukville during 1965 can
be broken down by commodity as follows:
Metric Tons
Cement
79,000
Coal
29,000
Metal products
13,000
Rubber (for transshipment
12,000
Foodstuffs
9,000
Chemicals & Explosives
5,000
Roasted Pyrites
3,000
POL in Drums
2,000
Other identified General
3,000
Unidentified
110,000
265,000
,All of the cement delivered at Sihanoukville came from Communist
countries, the largest amount from North Vietnam. Vessels flying the
Lebanese, Soviet and British flags moved most of this cement. The
coal delivered to Sihanoukville came from Communist China and Thailand
in French, Lebanese and Greek-flag vessels. Most of the metal products
delivered at Sihanoukville came from Communist China and North Vietnam,
in most cases on Greek and British-flag vessels.
The rubber discharged in Sihanoukville came from Indonesia in
small Panamanian-flag freighters. It apparently was brought to Cambodia
so that it could be documented as rubber of Cambodian origin before
being shipped to Singapore where the importation of Indonesian rubber
is prohibited.
While there is no evidence that military cargoes were discharged
at Phnom Penh during 1965, either openly or covertly, a number of mili-
tary cargoes were discharged at Sihanoukville. At least three Communist
Chinese, one Czech, and one French ship took part in these deliveries.
It appears that most of the cargoes were intended for delivery to the
armed forces of Cambodia. These cargoes included Skyraider aircraft
from France; gunpowder and fuses from Czechoslovakia for a small arms
plant; and machine guns, mortars, and recoilless weapons, from Connaunist
China. The exact tonnage of the military cargoes is unknown. However,
the table below giving tonnages of identified military and unidentified
cargoes discharged by ships known or suspected to be carry arms suggests
the magnitude of these shipments.
,~rrclY,:i`4aJ':
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Flay (Metric Tons)
Country of Origin
Czechoslovakian
Communist Chinese French Total
Czechoslovakia
800
800
France
67
67
Communist China
11,252
11,252
11,252
67
12,119
A number of French cargo liners discharged consignments of explosives
loaded in Western Europe. However, it is not known whether they were
for civilian or military use.
More is known about the flags of the ships that carried the 110,000
tons of unidentified cargoes than is. known about the countries at which
the cargoes were loaded. French, Greek, Communist Chinese, British,
and Panamanian ships carried most of these cargoes. The countries of
loading for 63,000 tons of unidentified cargo are known. Communist
China, Singapore, and North Vietnam together account for over half of
this amount. It is likely that the 47,000 tons of unidentified cargo
for which no data on countries of loading are available include signi-
ficant quantities of rubber from Indonesia and liner cargo from Western
Europe. V
3. Movement of Supplies from Cambodia to the Viet Cong in South Vietnam
Firm evidence is available to indicate that the Viet-Cong obtain
some supplies from Cambodia but little evidence is available to support
the thesis that cargo has moved through the port of Sihanoukville di-
rectly to the Viet Cong. Most of the supplies procured by the Viet Cong
in or through Cambodia are materials indigenous to Cambodia -- food and
clothing -- or imported as normal procurement by the Cambodian foreign
trade monopoly. These supplies are than purchased in the open market
by agents and moved across the border into South Vietnam by smugglers
or by Viet Cong porters. Primitive transport is used primarily to
move these supplies on the trails and waterways that cross the border
and on the coastal waterways in the Gulf of Siam.
Viet Cong supplies from Cambodia consist of food, drugs and medi-
cal supplies,-and electrical equipment such as radios, batteries, and
tubes. Cambodia, at best, is a limited source for these goods since
the Viet Cong obtain most of their supplies from within South Vietnam.
The extent to which Cambodia is being used as a transfer area or as a
source of arms and ammunition is difficult to assess. Many of the
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reports concerning the possible shipment of arms to the Viet Cong
through Cambodia have apparently been engendered by the deliveries
in 1964 and 1965 of weapons from Communist China to Cambodia. There
has been no effort by Cambodia or Communist China, however, to con-
ceal these military deliveries Uthich have been in fulfillment of the
Chinese Communist military aid agreement with Cambodia. It seems
unlikely that any significant amount of this equipment or ammunition
has been supplied to the Viet Cong, although some of the replaced
equipment may have been obtained by the Viet Cong through clandestine
means. Various reports, including the testimony of numerous Viet
Cong prisoners who were engaged in supply operations from Cambodia,
indicate that movements of arms and ammunition from Cambodia probably
are small in terms of the total amount of such materials infiltrated
into South Vietnam..
It has not been possible to quantify the amount of supplies that
the Viet Cong obtain through Cambodia, but it is believed that the
amount is significantly less than that obtained through the Laotian
Panhandle (that is, at least 5 tons and possibly more than 8 tons per
day during the first nine months of 1965. A review of information
received in the past 4 months indicates no significant change in the
types or quantities of material that the Viet Cong are reported to
receive through Cambodia or in the Cambodian government's official
attitude that Cambodia is neutral and will not be used as a logistics
base by the Viet Cong. Members of the International Control Commission
have recently arrived in Cambodia at the request of the Cambodian
government to assess the possibilities of maintaining continuous in-
spection of the port and the Cambodian military installations. The
Cambodians requested the ICC inspection in order to combat rumors that
Cambodia was providing logistic support to the Viet Cong. The Cambodian
government, however, has expressed its official good will diplomatically
and politically for the National Front for Liberation of South Vietnam.
President Sihanouk presented medical supplies to representatives of
the Front in 1965 and it is possible that Cambodia is continuing to
give this type of supplies to the Viet Cong.
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