Deputy general director of Postcoast Consultant Corporation Nguyen Manh Ung said the Seaport System Master Plan to 2030 had been submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval. He said many new principles, viewpoints and development targets would be introduced to overcome port shortcomings and integrate into the world system. If 1999 master plan capped a port’s ability to receive ships, the new one allows investors to decide the number of ships they want to receive at their ports.

The master plan also outlines ideal port locations and purposes for investors to base their decisions on. Ung said domestic and overseas investors were being invited to build and run sea ports because the investments were beyond the State budget. The master plan encouraged investors to build not only port infrastructure such as wharves but also public systems such as wave-breaking dykes and roads connecting ports with highways. It looked to tackle the unplanned and piecemeal development of sea port network by grouping the existing small ports and changing their use, Ung said.

Viet Nam’s "my house is my castle" attitude would no longer be the case with the sea port industry.

The lack of deep-water ports had made domestic enterprises less competitive because of the extra costs involved in transhipment in Singapore and Hong Kong which have deep sea ports and higher capacity to anchor larger vessels. Though Viet Nam claimed to have had 49 sea ports nationwide, many of them were merely wharves or complexes of wharf, Ung said.

Along the Cam River in Hai Phong City stand some tens of ports, but their owners possess only small surface areas of water. Shortage of funds has prevented them from building large ports, developed concurrently with connecting roads, water and electricity systems.

Director of Doan Xa joint-stock port company Vu Van Duong admitted the company owned a wharf which was big enough to receive one ship but was not long enough for two. Duong said it was difficult to ask its neighbouring company and competitor Germardep to assist and vice versa as there was a steadfast barrier between them.

Ung said the master plan would solve the problem, helping investors support and share with each other.

General secretary of the Viet Nam Sea Ports Association Nguyen Thanh Son said it was a waste of coastline to mix small specialised ports with large container ports. It also caused difficulties in managing the ports, preventing fires and protecting the environment.

Statistics released by the Viet Nam’s National Shipping Lines Corporation, Vinalines, show the quantity of import and export goods going through ports managed by the corporation was more than 32 million tonnes in the first six months of this year, an increase of 26 per cent compared with the same period last year and equal to 69 per cent of this year’s plan. Even so, the increase is not equal between regions, and earnings do not match the increased quantity of import and export goods.

In the south, the volume of goods transported increased by 26 per cent, while the figure reduced by 20 per cent in the north. Yet Vinalines reported a sudden cargo overload at ports in both regions in the same period. This spoke volumes for a serious imbalance in types of cargo caused by unplanned and piecemeal development of sea ports designated for every type of cargo and ship.

In the north, for instance, only Hai Phong and Cai Lan ports are specialising in shipping cargo in bulk. The others were designed to receive container vessels, steel and iron.

A recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Transport also found that except for a few sea ports armed with modern equipment which had been put into operation in the last three years, the rest were still using ordinary equipment for handling goods.

The result was the handling capacity of sea ports in Viet Nam was equal to about 60 per cent of that in countries with advanced sea ports, Ung said. He said infrastructure serving the sea port system, including roads and electricity and water systems, had not developed concurrently with the ports.

Ung cited the case of international port SP-PSA in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province as a typical example.

It wasn’t until the port investor announced the port was nearly finished and need electricity that the provincial authority revealed there was no detailed plan for electricity supply to sea ports along Thi Vai-Cai Mep River.

The planning was finally approved in mid-August this year with a total investment capital of VND91 billion (USD 5.1 million), but still the power would not be available to serve sea ports along the river this year. Ung said the master plan addressed such shortcomings.