Viconship approves 120 billion dong loan to HARG

The move matters because the joint venture sits at the center of Viconship’s push beyond port operations into container shipping, a capital-intensive segment that requires steady funding before new ships generate cash flow. For investors, the loan reinforces that Viconship is backing the expansion internally rather than waiting for outside financing, while also exposing it to execution and funding risk if the fleet rollout takes longer than planned.

HARG was set up in August 2025 and is owned 60% by Viconship and 40% by Hai An Transport and Stevedoring, known as HAH. Its core business is coastal and ocean freight, and it is one of the key vehicles in Viconship’s strategy to widen its footprint in container shipping.

Under Viconship’s September 2025 investment plan, the venture is expected to develop a fleet totaling about 22,000 TEU between 2025 and 2028, including three 2,500-TEU vessels and two newly built 7,100-TEU ships. At Viconship’s 2026 annual meeting, chairman Nguyen Xuan Dung said he expects the fleet to reach nearly 30,000 TEU by 2030.

The funding decision comes as Viconship’s core business is performing solidly. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue rose nearly 7% year on year to 861 billion dong, while after-tax profit jumped 64% to 244 billion dong, helped by strong port operations and lower depreciation as some equipment finished amortizing.

For the first half, Viconship posted 1.722 trillion dong in revenue, up nearly 16%, and after-tax profit of 314 billion dong, up 21%. The company has reached almost 51% of its 2026 pretax profit target of 750 billion dong, leaving room for investors to focus on whether the shipping expansion can add scale without eroding margins.

The next catalyst is execution: how quickly HARG can deploy capital, secure vessels and turn the fleet plan into operating cash flow as Viconship continues to shift from a port operator into a broader shipping player.