World’s No.1 shipping line MSC keen on investing in new Can Tho city port

Switzerland-headquartered Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s largest shipping line, is interested in investing in a new large-scale transshipment port in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

The information was revealed at a recent meeting between representatives of MSC, Thanh Binh Phu My Joint Stock Company and Can Tho leaders.

Under the city’s master plan just approved by the Prime Minister, a 155-ha area in Thot Not district is reserved for the port, along with a logistics center and warehousing facilities, Secretary of the Can Tho Party Committee Nguyen Van Hieu said at the meeting.

The port will be located in an area with well-connected transport networks that is also close to the O Mon thermal power center and Tra Noc Industrial Park. Hieu suggested that investors deploy works simultaneously in the 155-ha area to facilitate site clearance and resettlement, so that they have clean land for smooth project construction.

Benoit de Quillacq, managing director of MSC Vietnam, noted that Can Tho’s planned port area fits the group’s development strategy ideally; and can connect with MSC’s ports and other deep-sea ports in Vietnam.

The firm has a fleet of 760 ships, transporting 22.5 million TEUs per year. Its fleet has expanded by about 10% in the last three years. It also has subsidiaries operating the fields of deep-water port construction, warehousing, air transport, ports and logistics services in many countries including Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Thanh Binh Phu My JSC - developer and operator of the Phu My 3 specialized industrial park in the southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, requested Can Tho authorities to approve the Phu My 3 Can Tho Industrial Park, which would cover an area of 600-800 hectares in city’s Vinh Thanh district.

After studying and surveying the area, the company proposed that city authorities allocate an initial area of about 600 ha, including 505 ha of farm land, in the planned Vinh Thanh IP (Phase 2) for developing the new industrial park.

Can Tho has four main ports now: Cai Cui, Hoang Dieu, Tra Noc-O Mon, and Tho Not. Put-through volume in the ports was 4.48 million tons in 2023.

In 2022, MSC and Vietnam Maritime Corporation jointly made research on an $870 million international container transshipment port project in Can Gio coastal district, Ho Chi Minh City.