The project, which has three phases of planned construction, has been deemed a top priority by the region’s authorities.

The first phase development would cover 118-125 ha, constructing berths which would stretch a combined 1,680 to 2,260 meters.

With 7 wharves (2 big and 5 small ones) catering for ships up to 9,000 Twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), the port could handle up to 2.1 million TEUs of cargo. The overall phase is expected to cost US$500 million.

The second phase would follow on until 2020, with seven wharves being built to receive vessels of up to 12,000 TEUs. This phase would raise the total handling capacity up to 4.5 million TEUs per year with a total investment of $1.2 million.

After the final phase, the port complex would boast a total of 17 container wharves for very large vessels of up to 15,000 TEUs and 4 small wharves for feeder ships, with a total handling capacity of 14.5 to 17 million TEUs per year, while the total investment figure would be close to $4 billion.

Hoang Dinh Phi, deputy head of the management board of the Van Phong Economic Zone Authorities, said that the Government recently halted the transshipment port project of the start-up phase.

The project was suspended because Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), the project owner of the start-up phase, changed containers from 6,000-9,000 TEU to 12,000-15,000TEU which would have required huge investment and international support.

The Government has suggested Vinalines and the Transport Ministry should approach prestigious and experienced foreign investors to join the project.

Van Phong is a large bay to the east of Viet Nam, encompassing 43,500 hectares of water surface area and a depth of 15-22 metres. With its favourable natural conditions and potential, the Government has approved plans to develop the area into an international transshipment port and a multi-purpose economic centre of commerce, industry and tourism.

There are 100 projects with total investments of $13.9 billion due to be constructed in the bay. Of which, 28 projects are already underway and 48 have been granted investment licences.