Seatle-based SSA’s Vietnam joint venture may get $24 mln for shake-up

Saigon Port JSC is waiting for its shareholders’ nod to loan $24 million to the firm operating Saigon Port-SSA International Terminal for its financial restructuring.

SSIT, which operates the container terminal on the Thi Vai River in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, is a joint venture between Seatle-based SSA Marine’s SSA Vietnam, Saigon Port JSC and Vietnam Maritime Corp, holding a 50%, 38.93%, and 11.07% stake, respectively.

According to a Saigon Port JSC report to its shareholders, SSIT is supposed to pay debts totaling $47.7 million to five creditors no later than December 15, 2022. Therefore, the joint venture’s three parties are supposed to finalize a solution meeting the deadline, either paying for the total or some rescheduling, otherwise SSIT would face legal issues or risks.

SSIT started to build the Saigon Port-SSA International Terminal in 2006 as a gateway port for HCMC, Vietnam’s southern economic hub, but had undergone hibernation due to the 2008 world financial crisis. It opened in October 2014, serving un-containerized cargo, and became a container terminal in June 2018.

SSIT has reported profits after tax since 2019, with increases year after year, Saigon Port JSC said, but the venture’s cash flows have failed to pay debts as scheduled.

SSA Marine expects to contribute another $24 million to this financial restructuring like Saigon Port, according to the Vietnamese company. SSIT, their joint venture, is due to return the two contributions in three years, with one-year extension being a possibility.