International container terminal for Vung Tau

Vietnam Maritime Corp. has chosen 135 hectares of sea area and 24.5 hectares of

land in the Sao Mai-Ben Dinh area in Vung Tau city to build an international

container terminal-the first specialised container depot in Vietnam, according

to the corporation’s pre-feasibility study report on the project.

Unofficial statistics show nearly 1.2 million tonne TEUs (twenty-feet-equivalent

unit) of containerised goods were transported via Vietnam ports last year

compared with about 220 million TEU of goods transported worldwide.

As Vietnam has now no container port with specialised loading and unloading

equipment, most containerised goods are transported via general ports including

Saigon, Ben Nghe, Tan Cang, Da Nang, and Hai Phong, which causes no less

difficulties to shipping lines and goods owners in terms of time and costs.

Hopes are the container port would help Vietnam secure a position in the

potentially growing market of transporting or transhipping container goods as

the country is located right in the centre of three key container shipping

routes of the world: North-South (Far East-Mediterranean-Europe), North-West

(Asia-America continent), and intra-Asia routes.

Maritime specialists say Ben Dinh depot at Vung Tau is located before the

riverway port of Saigon-Thi Vai, next to the international maritime shipping

routes, and in the key economic zone of the south, thus is a convenient position

for an international container port.

Under the pre-feasibility study report, Vung Tau container terminal is designed

to have five major dockyards and wharves with overall length of 2.175km, which

can allow container vessels up to 4,000-6,000TEU to berth.

Total investment for the terminal is estimated at US$388 million, which is

divided into two periods [a start date hasn't been determined as yet]: US$93

million to build a 400m dockyard with capacity of 260 TEUs from 2005, and US$285

million to build four more dockyards with combined length of 1.775km, capable of

accommodating 1,200 TEUs as from 2010. The overall designed capacity of the

terminal when all dockyards are fully operational is 2.38 million TEU a year.

 

Category: Business