Shipping giant Hai An's CVI service extends to VOC Port: How this impacts India's maritime trade with other Asian nations

The container ship HAIAN Alfa (IMO: 9967043) on November 7 made its maiden call at the V.O. Chidambaranar Port after a maritime service from Vietnamese shipping giant Hai An was extended to the Tuticorin-based port.

Carrying 823 TEUs of container cargo, the Vietnamese-flagged ship was berthed at the Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal (DBGT). This incoming cargo includes 723 TEUs of import containers for Vinfast and 100 TEUs of transshipment containers destined for Colombo.

This marks a major development in India's maritime trade with other Asian nations since the launch of the Chennai-Vietnam (CVI) service in September this year. Operated by Hai An Container Transport Limited (HACT)—a subsidiary of Hai An Transport and Stevedoring Joint Stock Company (HATS)—the CVI service at the time served as a new direct connection between India and Vietnam, with China's Nansha Port and Malaysia's Port Klang in between.

The rotation was as follows:

Chennai→Port Klang→Hai Phong→Nansha→Hai Phong→Port Klang→Chennai

The aim was to not just serve as a direct and reliable trade link between India and Vietnam, but also to add major trading hubs into the equation and diversify cargo shipped on the service, in response to customer demands.

The impetus for this lay in India-Vietnam trade reaching $13.4 billion over the first eight months of 2026, which reflects a 25 per cent year-on-year boost.

In that regard, on October 3, the 1,781-TEU Vietnamese-flagged container ship HAIAN Beta (IMO: 9967055) had kicked off the monthly service by calling at the Chennai Port.

In just a month, HACT also revamped the CVI service amid the addition of the VOC Port in Tuticorin. The rotation is now as follows:

Tuticorin→Chennai→Ho Chi Minh→Hai Phong→Qinzhou→Port Klang→Tuticorin

Ships plying on the now-fortnightly service will take approximately seven days to go from the VOC Port to Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Port, and ten days to the Hai Phong Port, the V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority (VOCPA) said in a statement.

The addition of the VOC Port and the overall revamp of the CVI service marks a major boost for India's container shipping connectivity, given that the port is already linked to many of the same Asian trading hubs through services such as a bi-weekly one operated by Thailand-based Regional Container Line (RCL), which also has China's Qinzhou Port and Vietnam's Hai Phong Port on the rotation.

VOC Port's inclusion in the CVI service is also expected to boost the export of regional products, such as rice and cereal products, bone meal, raw cashew, seafood, cotton, yarn, chemicals, cashew, food items, beverages, coir products, coco peat and garments.