Vietnam Maritime Corporation’s subsidiary Vietnam Ocean Shipping Joint Stock Company (Vosco) is accelerating its expansion into the coal trading sector. In recent years, this traditional shipping company has frequently appeared in coal import tenders for large coal-fired power plants, indicating its attempt to build a second revenue stream beyond its main shipping business.
In Vietnam, the coal import market has long been controlled by domestic and international traders, supplying fuel to major power companies. However, the recent appearance and active bidding of Vosco (HoSE: VOS) in multiple tenders signifies that its commercial footprint is rapidly expanding from “shipping coal” to “selling coal.”
On October 27, a consortium formed by Vosco and Vosco Maritime Services won the coal supply tender for the Duyen Hai 3 and 3MR power plants with the lowest bid of $72.93 million (total contract value approximately $82.17 million), slightly lower than the joint bid from Vinacomin and Noble. Subsequently, on November 10, Vosco bid again, participating in another tender valued at 2.17 trillion VND with a bid of $75.38 million, but Dan Ka Minerals ultimately won with a bid of $74.20 million. Earlier, in March 2025, Vosco had already successfully secured a coal supply contract worth 1.06 trillion VND (approximately $40.30 million), laying the foundation for this year’s commercial expansion.
However, looking at its main shipping business, the company’s profitability is under pressure. In the third quarter, Vosco’s consolidated revenue was only 850 billion VND (approximately $32.25 million), lower than the 1.27 trillion VND (approximately $48.19 million) in the same period last year. Among this, trading revenue fell sharply by seventy percent to 650 billion VND (approximately $24.67 million). Coupled with the company returning leased vessels and disposing of older ships, the reduction in fleet size also dragged down overall revenue.
Despite the business downturn, Vosco still achieved a net profit of 132 billion VND (approximately $5.01 million) in the third quarter, reversing a loss of 14 billion VND (approximately $0.53 million) in the same period last year, mainly benefiting from a 99 billion VND (approximately $3.76 million) gain from the sale of the “Vosco Star.”
In the first nine months of this year, Vosco’s total revenue fell to 2.15 trillion VND (approximately $81.47 million), about half of the previous year’s figure; net profit decreased to 88 billion VND from 344 billion VND (approximately $13.05 million) in the same period last year, last year’s performance having been boosted by the divestment of the “Dai Minh” vessel.
Furthermore, at an extraordinary general meeting held on November 7, Vosco shareholders approved the sale of the 53,552 deadweight ton “Vosco Unity.” The company is also studying the sale or disposal of up to three Supramax bulk carriers through sale-and-leaseback arrangements. Simultaneously, Vosco has added business scopes such as shipbuilding and manufacturing offshore floating structures, indicating that its future layout will no longer be limited to traditional shipping.
