Infrastructure (Ports)

Shipping

The main international port in the country is Yangon which handles over 90 per cent of the sea-borne trade of the country. Although the mainstay of the cargo carried is break-bulk conventional cargo, container traffic is also catered for.

Myanma Five Star Line (M F S L) is the State-owned shipping line which operates coastal and overseas transport services with a fleet of twenty one vessels.

Apart from the above liner services, it also operates services to east and west coasts of India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and People's Republic of China subject to availability of cargo. Moreover, M F S L also operates tramping service as and when it is necessary. Although its main cargo carried is break-bulk conventional cargo, container traffic is catered for in the Far East liner service between Yangon and Japan. South Korea where twenty feet containers and reefer containers are carried. A container service is also available in the Yangon - Singapore service.

Although there is no direct service to U S A and Canada, a transhipment agreement has been entered into with Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line ( N Y K) Japan, under which M F S L serves the Myanmar / Japan sector and N Y K serves the Japan / U S A and Canada sector. A similar transhipment arrangement has been made with Australian National Line (ANL), whereby ANL serves the Australia/Singapore sector and M F S L serves the Myanmar / Singapore sector. Apart from M F S L, there are also other foreign shipping lines entering Myanmar Ports, of which Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line, Eastern Car Liner Ltd.(Japan), Bangkok Container Line Co., Ltd.(Bangkok), Lian Huat Shipping and Foong Sun Shipping (Pte) Ltd. (Singapore) are the five regular shipping lines at present.