MOL Starts Vietnam Tugboat Business

November 18, 2010

TOKYO - Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Koichi Muto) today announced that the company has established a joint venture with two local companies in Vietnam and started a tugboat business.

The joint company will allocate high-powered, high-performance tugboats in Vietnam's Cai Mep/Thi Vai area^*1, where deepwater container terminals are now under developing. It will offer safe, high-quality support services for vessels calling at ports in the region, helping meet the needs of Vietnam's shipping industry and international shipping lines.

1. Joint company outline

2. Background and objectives

Deepwater container terminals have been constructed to serve Vietnam's Cai Mep/Thi Vai areas as a result of tremendous economic growth in Southern Vietnam. The number of large-scale vessels calling at the ports will continue to increase, so stable tugboat service is indispensable. The new company has benefited from high-quality tugboat operation know-how accumulated by the MOL Group, and will meet those needs and contribute to stable operation in these areas.

*1 Cai Mep/Thi Vai River watershed in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, about 50km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City. Three deepwater terminals are already open. Another container terminals, bulk terminals, and other facilities will be open in the future.

*2 A national company under the umbrella of Vietnam's Ministry of Defense and naval forces. It already started operating a new large deepwater container terminal in the Cai Mep area. In the area adjacent to the terminal, they will open another new container terminal together with MOL, and other shipping companies

*3 The company set up tugboat and barge businesses as well as ship agency business in the Cai Mep River and Thi Vai River areas in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. They operate four tugboats (including one under construction) and five barges.