Van Phong port gets new lease on life

HCM City (VNA) – With the country’s first international transit port in the central province of Khanh Hoa back on track after almost being abandoned last year, the Government is scouting for foreign investors.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has told the Ministries of Transport, Finance, Investment and Planning to make a comprehensive plan for the port to come up in Van Phong Bay.

The project’s major investor, Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), would work with the foreign partner on the details and secure the required licenses, he added.

The project, approved in 2007, was almost mothballed early last year, with its groundbreaking ceremony cancelled, after Posco of the Republic of Korea and Khanh Hoa province proposed a 10 billion USD steel plant and a 1,100 MW power plant in Dam Mon on part of the land earmarked for the port.

But at the end of last year, the Government disallowed their proposed projects on environmental grounds, effectively reviving the port project.

A study has found the 45,000-ha bay’s average water depth of 22-27 m ideal for large vessels. It also has a natural barrier from the weather and tides in the form of Hon Gom island.

Economists have opined that if Van Phong becomes an international transit port, it would not only benefit Khanh Hoa immensely but also cause a major change to the Southeast Asian region’s marine services industry.

“We now pay foreigners at least 3 billion USD in transshipment fees every year,” former Vinalines director Chu Quang Thu said.

The fees add 10 to 15 percent to the cost of goods.

He said that the terminal would enable Vietnam to stop depending on Hong Kong and Singapore for transshipping containers bound for Europe and North America , saving 101-231 USD per container.

Once ready, Van Phong would do the job now done by Hong Kong and Singapore – transship goods for other countries.

Domestic shipping services handle a mere 20 percent of Vietnam ’s total foreign trade with the rest done by foreign agencies.

Vinalines said transshipment is a crucial link in the logistics chain that is becoming increasingly popular internationally.-