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Ba Ria-Vung Tau deepwater port opens
Vietnamese importers and exporters can now trade directly with their US and EU partners thanks to the inauguration of the country's first deepwater container trans-shipment seaport in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province on Mar. 16.
The Tan Cang Cai Mep port will help reduce the shipment time by seven to 10 days since goods no longer have to be trans-shipped through a third country, making Vietnamese goods more competitive on the global market.
The port, built at a total cost of VND4.3 trillion (US$204 million), can handle 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units a year (One TEU equals one standard container).
Speaking at the inauguration, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said the deepwater port would help accelerate the growth of the southern key economic zone and spearhead the growth of container transshipment ports in the country.
He urged relevant ministries and agencies to hasten the relocation of seaports belonging to the Sai Gon port group as envisaged in the master plan.
The port has in fact been partially functional for a few years now, receiving the 73,000DWT vessel Premium as long as in June 2009 to mark a milestone in the country's seaport industry by directly receiving consignments from the US and EU.
It has so far received 596 vessels with a total cargo of 430,000 TEU, accounting last year for 65 per cent of the total cargo going out through the Ba Ria-Vung Tau port cluster.
The port is now also expected to enable the start of container shipments from Cambodia and the Cuu Long (Mekong Delta) region.
vietnamnews
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