MERCHANT SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN 1964

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T02095R000800070043-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 15, 2008
• Sequence Number: 43
• Publication Date: March 1, 1965
• Content Type: BRIEF

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SECRET
INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
CIA/ RR CB 65-20
March 1965
Copy No.
MERCHANT SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN 1964
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
Office of Research and Reports
MORI/CDF
SECRET
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declassification
Navy raviaXni(cl rmmnlaf nrl
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S-E-C-R-E-T
MERCHANT SHIPPING TO NORTH VIETNAM IN 1964
1. Vessels Involved, by Flag
An analysis of foreign-flag merchant shipping to North Vietnam re-
veals that at least 580 arrivals were made by foreign-flag ships at North
Vietnamese ports in 1964. A detailed breakdown, by flag, of ship ar-
rivals at North Vietnamese ports is shown in Table 1.
North Vietnam: Foreign-Flag Ship Arrivals
by Flag
1964
Total
580
Free World a/
402
Denmark
1
Finland
1
France
1
Greece
35
Indonesia
1
Italy
11
Japan
74.
Lebanon
20
Liberia
7
Netherlands
8
Norway
43
Panama
12
Sweden
3
United Kingdom
177
West Germany
8
48
58
Bulgaria
2
Czechoslovakia
7
East Germany
1
Poland
48
72
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Ships flying Free World flags accounted for 69 percent of the
arrivals observed in 1.964. The lion's share of these arri.va:ls was
a ccounted for by British-flag shipping, which with 177 arrivals matched
almost equally the 178 made by ships flying Communist flags. Other
Free World countries with vessels in the North Vietnamese grade in-
cluded Japan with 74 arrivals, Norway with 43, and Greece with 35.
These four flags accounted for 82 percent: of the Free World arrivals
and about 5" percent; of the total ship arrivals ob erved du rir g the
year.
Shipping under the Chinese Communist flag, with 72 arrivals during
the year, accounted for 40 percent of the total made by ships from Com -
munist countries. The other major Communist-flag ships in the trade
were the USSR, and Poland, each with 48 arrivals.
Although a precise division of ship arrivals by port of arrival c4:an-
not be made at this time, it is estimated that at least 425 of the 580
arrivals were made at the port of Haiphong. The remaining,, arrivals
were made almost: entirely at the coal-exporting ports of Cam Pha and
Hon Gay. An undetermined number of ships did, of course, za.11. at
more than one port, u=.ally offloading at, Haiphong and then proceeding
to one of the coal-e:xporti.ng ports. A breakdown by flag of the esti?-
ma.ted arri.vaal.s at Haiphong is shown in Table 2.
Almost two-thirds of the Free World ships called at Haiphong as
their first; port of. call, Bloc ships, on the other hand, almost invar-
iably made Haiphong their first por*: of call -- some .174 of the total of
178 Bloc arrivals, or 98 percent, being made first. at this port:,
3. Cargo Moved
Quanta; ti.ve data on the cargoes moving in and out of North Vietnam
are incomplete. Estimates of seaborne exports and imports based on
reasonably firm, although incomplete, data are presented in Tables 3
and. 4.
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North Vietnam: Foreign-Flag Ship Arrivals at Haiphong
by Flag
1964
Flag
Gross Register Tons
425
1,844,517
251
872,454
Denmark
6,822
Finland
5,661
France
1
2,878
Greece
2'7
197,426
Italy
2
14,361
Japan
30
75,574
Lebanon
12
68,590
Netherlands
10
21,855
Norway
38
94,888
Panama
6
34,243
Sweden
2
13,833
United Kingdom
116
318,897
West Germany
4
17,426
359,469
European Satellites
56
385,350
Czechoslovakia
7
45,498
East Germany
L
9,632
Poland
48
330,220
227,244
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North Vietnam: Seaborne Exports Carried by Foreign-Flag Ships
1964
Metric Tons
Flag
Commodity
Free World
USSR
European
Satellites
Communist
China
Total
Total
1,185,600
124,600
83,200
N.A.
1,393,40o
Coal a/
825,4oo
6,600
10,200
N.A.
842,200
Apatite b/
219,700
33,600
34,000
N.A.
287,300
Cement b7
77,000
43,700
8,300
N.A.
:L29,000
Miscellaneous b/
63,500
40,700
30,700
N.A.
134,900
a,, Out of Cam Pha and Hon Gay.
b, Almost exclusively out of Haiphong.
North Vietnam: Seaborne Imports Carried by Foreign-Flag Ships
1964
Metric Tons
Flag
European Communist
Commodity Free World USSR Satellites China Total
283,000 266,000 61,ooo 23,000 633,000
Maize, grains, and
bul,c foodstuffs
123,000
N.A.
19,C)0o
20,000
162,000
Ammonium sulfate
and. other fer-
tilizers
52,000
91,000
14,000
N.A,.
157,000
PO:L
31,000
109,000
2,000
N.A..
142,000
Timber
11,000
N.A.
2,000
N.A.
13,000
Miscellaneous
66,ooo
66,000
24,000
3,000
159,000
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a. Exports
It is estimated that a minimum of 1. 4 million metric tons of
export cargoes moved out of North Vietnam by sea in 1964. About 60
percent of this tonnage is accounted for by coal moving out of the ports
of Cam Pha and Hon Gay. The other major identifiable exports were
apatite and cement, usually exported from the port of Haiphong. Free
World shipping dominated the seaborne export trade of North Vietnam,
carrying about: 1. 2 million of the 1. 4 million metric tons exported
during the year. Soviet-flag ships carried about 125, 000 metric tons
of export cargoes, while Satellite-flag shipping carried only about
83, 000 metric tons.
b. Imports
Estimates of seaborne import cargoes in 1964 show a minimum.
of identifiable imports of 633, 000 metric tons. Imports of maize, grains,
and bulk foodstuffs together accounted for 26 percent of the total, exceed-
ing only slightly the volume of imports of fertilizers. The other major
commodity import was petroleum, which amounted to 142, 000 metric
tons, or more than 22 percent of total seaborne imports.
The carriage of seaborne imports was more evenly distributed
than the carriage of seaborne exports. Vessels flying Free World flags
accounted for 45 percent of estimated seaborne imports, compared with
42 percent for Soviet-flag vessels. Soviet-flag vessels, however, did
dominate the petroleum trade, accounting for 77 percent of the total.
petroleum seaborne imports. The small share _- 10 percent -- of the
total seaborne imports carried by ships flying European Satellite flags
was dominated by the large number of Polish-flag vessels calling at
Haiphong as part of the Polish linear services to Far Eastern ports.
Analyst-
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