Struggle Continues at Vietnam Port
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Monday, September 21, 2015
The deep-river port complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is still struggling to reach its designed capacity, says local media reports.
The seven deep-water seaports have been built by the Cai Mep – Thi Vai Port Group in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau in the past few years at a total cost of VND40 trillion (nearly US$1.8 billion).
Statistics from the province's transport department showed that a total of 1.16 million TEUs were handled at Cai Mep-Thi Vai last year, or just 17 percent of its capacity, even after freight growth averaged 20 percent a year, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on Thursday.
Although all its seven ports are designed to handle container ships of up to 85,000 DWT, just a few of them receive enough large vessels , Tran Van Danh, chief of the province's customs office, was quoted as saying.
In the first year after they became operational, each port saw 16 large vessels leave with cargo for European and American ports every week. However, after those exploratory trips, shipping lines had to reduce the number of direct trips because of a shortage of cargo for transport.