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Southern port complex shaping up
A chain of ports now under construction along southern Vietnam’s Thi Vai River will be operational by October next year.
A total of 37 ports will be built along the 76 kilometer-long river that passes through the industrial and economic centers of Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Ho Chi Minh City and flows into the East Sea.
According to a recently-announced national government plan, the Thi Vai River was chosen as the site of the chain of ports because the river has an average depth of 20 meters and width of 600 meters.
At some points the river is 60 meters deep and 1 kilometer wide, creating several suitable sites for international-standard deep water ports.
The river also runs through the center of Dong Nai, Ba Ria Vung Tau and Ho Chi Minh City, minimizing the distance cargo will have to travel from the ports to Vietnam’s highway network.
The Cai Mep and SP-PSA deep water ports, which were put into operation in June, are part of the planned port network.
The Thi Vai River starts in Long Thanh District in Dong Nai Province and acts as a natural border between HCMC and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province before meeting the East Sea at Ganh Rai Bay.
The river has already been dredged so the port network will be able to begin operating at full capacity in October next year.
International shipping carriers, including Denmark’s Maersk, the U.S.-based SSA Marine, Singapore’s PSA, Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa, Taiwan’s Yang Ming and France’s CMA-CGM, have so far agreed to use the deep water port network along the river, according to SP-PSA Port Deputy Director Ho Luong Quan.
Ngoc An
vietnews
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