"The wharves would have to refuse international ships with 12,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit)," said Dr Chu Quang Thu, former acting director of the Viet Nam Maritime Administration, referring to the standard unit describing a ship’s cargo-carrying capacity.

Currently, sea vessels headed for the US or Europe from Viet Nam carrying cargo of more than 4,000 TEU must stop in Singaporean ports, where they are charged at least $400 more for every TEU. A standard 40-foot container equals two TEUs.

Thu said an intercontinental port such as Van Phong Port would welcome hundreds of vessels a day, especially large shipments of refined oil. One shipment of refined oil could bring $4.5 million in port fees and charges, Thu added.

Most of the container ships in Viet Nam were 2,000–4,000 TEU, but one wharf accommodating ships with 15,000 TEU would be preferable to two wharves of 6,000-9,000 TEU each. "The most economically effective size in the world is 12,000 TEU, and the global trend is heading toward 18,000 TEU," he said. The smaller wharves would not make full use of the 16.5-metre sea-level depth near the proposed Van Phong port, he added. "I think capital is not the key," Thu said, "investors will pour their money into it if the Government persuades them it is a convincing project."

The port board said the current investment could cover the cost of two 6,000-9,000 TEU wharves, but not a larger 15,000 TEU wharf. Vinalines is the port’s main investor and builder. Nguyen Trong Hoa, director of the Van Phong Economic Zone’s management board, said site clearance, land compensation, road construction and an electricity network had been completed for the port project.