Upgrade of major southern Vietnam marine passage to start in February

The Ministry of Transport has approved a project worth over VND1.4 trillion ($59.4 million) to upgrade the channel to major port cluster Cai Mep-Thi Vai in southern Vietnam.

Work on the project is scheduled to begin in February 2023 and be completed in 2025, according to the ministry’s Maritime Projects Management Board. The upgrade aims to allow passage of mega vessels up to 18,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

Located in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province’s Phu My township, the port cluster serves as a significant international container destination and logistics facility, playing an important role in the southern region’s economic growth.

The upgrade will start from buoy number zero to the upstream of the Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT) to facilitate the navigation of vessels of 160,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) with full cargo, 120,000 DWT ships in two directions, and 200,000 DWT or 18,000 TEU offloaded for one way.

Next, the section from the CMIT upstream to the upstream of Tan Cang Cai Mep International Terminal (TCIT) and Tan Cang Cai Mep Container Terminal (TCCT) will be able to serve ships of 120,000 DWT with full cargo, 100,000 DWT in two directions; and 160,000 DWT offloaded for one way.

Furthermore, the section from the upstream of TCIT and TCCT to Phuoc An Port will facilitate ships of 60,000 DWT fully loaded or larger for one-way navigation.

The Cai Mep-Thi Vai port cluster in 2020 received the Margrethe Maersk super container of more than DWT214,000 and a capacity of 20,000 TEUs. She measures 400 meters long and 59 meters wide. This marked a turning point in Vietnam's marine transportation.

Dredging and upgrading navigation channels are regularly needed for marine transportation.