| Saigon Newport puts new sea port into operation |
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6/4/2009 8:50:42 AM Saigon Newport Company, Vietnam’s biggest container port operator, put a new sea port into operation yesterday in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, 120 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City. Tan Cang-Cai Mep Phase I, located on a 20.5 hectare area of the province’s Tan Thanh District, can accommodate vessels of up to 80,000 DWT (dead weight tons). The military-owned port operator invested VND1.2 trillion (US$66 million) in the first phase of the port. The company said the port has a modern system linking it with other ports in HCMC and the provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai so it can offer quality services to its clients. The port was due to receive yesterday its first client, the 73,000 DWT MOL Premium operated by Mitsui O.S.K Lines.
The Saigon Newport Company, which operates three sea ports, handled 28 million tons of cargo last year, accounting for nearly 65 percent of the city’s total market share and more than 42 percent of that of the whole country.
The company signed an agreement this February with South Korea-based Hanjin Shipping, Japanese MOL and Taiwanese Wanhai Lines to establish the $39 million Tan Cang-Cai Mep International Joint Venture.
The 30-year venture will operate from next year the second phase the port that will have a 600 meter long wharf to accommodate bigger vessels. |
| Minh Quang |