New steps in maritime transport

(Baonghean) - With a coastline of 82 km with 6 estuaries (Cua Hoi, Cua Lo, Cua Van, Cua Thoi, Cua Quen, Cua Con) and many waterways... the port system in Nghe An is planned and developed synchronously. This is a very favorable condition for the development of freight transport by sea and river. The volume of goods through ports in the province always grows from 20 to 30%.

After the State invested in completing the first phase of the project to upgrade the channel for 10,000 DWT ships with full load, Cua Lo Port has become the "destination" of many large domestic and foreign shipping lines. In particular, in July 2015, Cua Lo Port welcomed a ship with a capacity of more than 23,000 tons for the first time. Mr. Nguyen Huu Luan, General Director of Thanh Thanh Dat Company, said: "The safe docking of Thanh Thanh Dat 99 ship with a capacity of more than 23,000 tons and a length of over 150m has created favorable conditions for receiving wood chips exported to China. This event helps businesses reduce time and costs... because they do not have to bring ships to other provinces' seaports to receive goods and feel secure when bringing large ships to Cua Lo Port to receive goods." Up to now, Thanh Thanh Dat 99 ship has entered Cua Lo Port 3 times to receive wood chips for export to China. Each time it arrives at the port, the Nghe An Maritime Port Authority, Cua Lo Port, functional forces, and local authorities always ensure security and order, creating favorable conditions for timely delivery and receipt of goods.

Large tonnage ships dock at Cua Lo Port.

The project to upgrade the channel for 10,000 DWT fully loaded ships entering Cua Lo Port has a total investment of more than 375.6 billion VND and the investment phase of phase 1 is 179.3 billion VND, to implement the dredging of the channel to -7.2m and invest in a synchronous buoy signaling system (in which, the channel width at the dredged bottom is 100m; ship running depth is 9.3m; ship running water level: +2.5m; dredged bottom elevation -7.2m; additional installation of 2 new sets of buoy signaling). Phase 2 is 196.2 billion VND, building a 250m long South dike. After completing phase 1 and the Vietnam Maritime Administration has publicly announced it on the mass media and to partners and ship owners, many large tonnage ships that previously entered Hai Phong Port, or Vung Ang... now choose to enter Cua Lo Port. Since the beginning of July, large ships with tonnage from 14,000 to 16,000 tons have docked at Cua Lo Port six times to deliver and receive goods.

Obviously, Cua Lo Port is attractive to large cargo ships and in the coming time the number of ships will increase because Nghe An and the provinces in the North Central region are implementing many large investment projects, the amount of goods, equipment and machinery will be exported and imported through the seaport is very large. Along with attracting new customers and shipping lines, customers and large shipping lines associated with Cua Lo Port also continue to invest in improving cargo transport capacity. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Director of Nhat Viet Joint Stock Company in Nghe An said: Since 2008, the enterprise has invested in opening a cargo transport route by container in Nghe An. Starting from 1 container ship with a capacity of nearly 10,000 tons and up to now, Nhat Viet Joint Stock Company has invested in 2 more large container ships and each month there are 8 ships entering and leaving Cua Lo Port with a cargo volume of 2,400 containers. To proactively provide goods for the operation of sea transport vessels, the Company has invested in purchasing additional container transport vehicles and regularly coordinates closely with customers to transport goods according to customer requirements. Other shipping lines have also invested in putting into operation many large tonnage vessels at Cua Lo Port.

Attracting more and more shipping vessels to Cua Lo Port helps Nghe Tinh Port Joint Stock Company to increase cargo output rapidly. Mr. Bui Kieu Hung, Deputy General Director of Nghe Tinh Port Joint Stock Company said: "In the first 7 months of 2015, cargo through Cua Lo Port was more than 1.6 million tons, of which the items with large output were Containers of more than 522.5 thousand tons, wood chips of nearly 232 thousand tons, fertilizers of nearly 115 thousand tons, beef of 19.2 thousand tons... In the coming time, Cua Lo Port will welcome many large tonnage ships entering and leaving the port. The Company will continue to invest in depth to purchase more modern machinery, specialized equipment, and invest in expanding wharves, yards, and warehouses to promptly meet customers' cargo loading and unloading needs, and quickly release goods."

Nghe An has favorable conditions for developing the port system, so currently Cua Lo Port, Ben Thuy Port, Nghi Huong Petroleum Port and Hung Hoa are operating very effectively. Or Lach Quen Port, Lach Van Port... serve promptly for exploiting aquatic products and transporting goods. Along with that, the province plans and attracts investment in deep-water seaport projects in the North of Cua Lo (in Nghi Thiet Commune, Nghi Loc District), Dong Hoi Port (Quynh Lap - Quynh Luu) and other seaports serving the development of freight transport by sea. With the focus on investment in developing the seaport system, the annual output of goods through seaports in our province increases rapidly. In 2011, cargo transport through ports was about 1.6 million tons; in 2012, cargo transport through ports was 1.85 million tons; in 2013 it reached 2.4 million tons and in 2014 it was 2.7 million tons.

Mr. Vuong Dinh Minh, Director of Nghe An Maritime Port Authority said: “In the first 7 months of 2015, there were 1,576 ships entering and leaving Cua Lo Port, Ben Thuy Port, Nghi Huong Petroleum Depot, Hung Hoa Petroleum Port with a total output of more than 1.8 million tons, of which 430,212 tons were Container cargo. In particular, Cua Lo Port has recently attracted many large tonnage ships and the Maritime Port Authority has performed well in port work, aiming to achieve the goal of gradually bringing Cua Lo Port to international integration, best meeting the needs of goods trading in the region and countries around the world”.

Although relevant levels and sectors have made great efforts to ensure maritime security and safety, a very alarming reality at Cua Lo Port has not yet stopped the illegal anchoring of fishing boats at the port, causing difficulties for sea transport vessels entering and leaving the port, especially large tonnage vessels. Each time they enter the port, functional forces must be mobilized to propagate and mobilize the relocation of fishing boats anchored at the port. Another difficulty at Cua Lo Port is that the radius of the turning channel in front of the port is limited (only 187m), so it is only suitable for vessels under 160m in length and vessels longer than 160m will have difficulty turning around when docking... Developing the marine economy, focusing on investing in the development of the maritime transport industry is the right and appropriate direction that has helped Nghe An increasingly improve the conditions and environment to attract investment, meeting the requirements of integration. Therefore, overcoming existing limitations in seaport development in the province is an urgent requirement today.

Hoang Vinh