|
Vietnam to welcome marine monsters
Vietnam will be able to receive the world’s biggest cargo ships once a proposed new deep-water port is built in the country’s central region.
The port’s investor this month confirmed Van Phong Port in Khanh Hoa will be able to load and unload ships up to 18,000 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit), even though such marine monsters are still only in the design stage.
At present, Vietnam has no deep-water water port, so most of the nation’s sea-borne imports and exports have to go to Singapore to be transferred to larger more cost-efficient ships for the longer part of their voyage.
Work on the Van Phong Port is due to begin in October. The port investor, Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), has not yet revealed the estimated completion date.
Vinalines Chief Executive Duong Chi Dung said the port will first open with two piers capable of accepting 9,000 TEU ships. The first docks will have a water depth of 18 meters.
Docks for ships of 15,000 TEU – currently the world’s largest ships - and the 18,000 TEU ships of the future will be built later at the 45,000-hectare Van Phong Bay, which will have an average water depth of 22 to 27 meters, Dung said.
Dung said under earlier plans for the port, it would only be capable of receiving vessels of up to 6,000 TEU.
With an international-standard deep-water port, Vietnam will be able to save at least US$1.5 billion a year in transport fees by eliminating the need for ships to stop at Singapore, according to Dr. Chu Quang Thu, former acting head of Vietnam Maritime Administration (VMA).
Thu also said the port would generate billions of dollars in income and act as a “tugboat” for the region’s economic development.
Van Phong Port will be naturally shielded from bad weather and low tides by Hon Gom Island.
Tuan Phung, Vo Van Tao
vietnews
|
