Nearly 400 billion VND port in Nghe An occupied by fishing boats

Secret way in

Terminal No. 5 of Cua Lo Port, invested by Cua Lo Port Company Limited in cooperation with Nghe Tinh Port, has been completed and put into operation for nearly a year now. However, currently, vehicles entering and leaving to receive goods must go around terminals No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 of Cua Lo Port. This is very unsafe for traffic because the access roads to terminals No. 5 and No. 6 have been planned separately.

The planned route for ports No. 5 and No. 6 in front of Cua Lo port has not been implemented for many years. Photo: Tran Chau

According to the 2005 plan, the road to Port No. 5 (Cua Lo Port) is a 36-meter wide road, which will relocate 105 households in front of the Cua Lo Port office. This road connects to National Highway 46. However, to date, this plan has not been implemented, causing difficulties for investors.

The situation of Cua Lo port being occupied by fishermen's fishing boats has been going on for decades. Currently, this situation is getting more and more serious. According to the reporter's records, on May 29, on the wharf from wharfs 3, 4, 5, there were dozens of fishermen's fishing boats anchored on the port platform. Next to that, some cargo ships were struggling to return because the outside channel was completely anchored by fishing boats.

Fishermen's boats anchored at Cua Lo Port violated maritime safety. Photo: Tran Chau

Mr. Nguyen Hong Son - Director of Cua Lo Port Company Limited said: We invested 400 billion VND in building the port, dredging the shipping channel, ensuring that 30,000-ton ships can dock. However, wharf No. 5 cannot be exploited effectively because it is occupied by fishing boats and there is no direct access.

Mr. Tran Dat - Director of Cua Lo Port added: We have invited fishermen to discuss many times, however, they said that currently there is no fishing port to dock their boats so they have to dock in the port area.

"We also do not want to push fishing boats out of the port, but only hope that the Town will soon complete the construction of a fishing wharf so that fishermen have a place to dock their boats and ensure maritime safety. Fishing boats docking in the cargo port also gives shippers a bad impression of Cua Lo Port. Many cargo ships come and see fishing boats docked, they turn away to another port, causing us to lose credibility with our customers," Mr. Dat explained.

Mooring posts used to anchor cargo ships have been occupied by fishing boats. Photo: Tran Chau

The lack of boat mooring space also worries fishermen. Mr. Tran Van Phi in Nghi Hai ward, Cua Lo town said: I have been at sea for decades, every time I dock I have to compete with other boats to anchor here. When there is no more space, we have to anchor the boat at sea.

Fisherman Tran Van Phi in Nghi Hai is anchoring his boat at Cua Lo Port. Photo: Tran Chau

Due to the lack of a berth, our returning ships had to stop outside the channel and hire small boats to carry fish to shore to sell. When we ran out of fish, we were able to anchor the ship at Cua Lo port. We knew that anchoring like that was wrong, but there was no other way. We hoped for a fishing port large enough for fishermen to operate smoothly.

Fisherman Tran Van Phi in Nghi Hai - Cua Lo