APM Terminals, Vietnam’s Hateco to co-develop new container terminal

Port operating firm APM Terminals, a unit of Danish shipping giant Maersk’s transport and logistics division, has launched a strategic partnership with Vietnamese group Hateco to develop two new deep-water berths at Lach Huyen Port in northern Vietnam’s Hai Phong city.

The Hateco Haiphong International Container Terminal project, which would enable the port to handle vessels up to 18,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit), aims to capitalize on the favorable natural conditions and geographical location of the area, with the objective of facilitating direct import and export of goods between the north of Vietnam and European and American markets, APM said Tuesday.

The project is also expected to directly create attractive opportunities for key customers and cargo owners in the north, said the port operator, headquartered in The Hague of the Netherlands.

“We are excited to partner with APM Terminals and Maersk, who have been carefully chosen to be our long-term strategic partners due to aligned visions for the market and their capabilities to add value commercially and operationally,” Hateco chairman Tran Van Ky said.

Vietnam is one of the rapidly growing and high-potential markets in South East Asia, said Martijn van Dongen, head of investment at APM Terminals.

APM will provide financial, operational and technical support to Hateco in the project, which entails the investment into and development of two berths with a total length of 900 meters (450 meters each), capable of accommodating container vessels of up to 18,000 TEUs.

The investor, Hateco, plans to complete all construction works and deploy equipment by the end of 2024, and the new terminal is expected to become operational by the first quarter of 2025. In the initial phase, the facility will have five ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and 14 rubber-tyre gantry (RTG) cranes.