The new Hai Phong International Container Terminal (HICT) at Lach Huyen Port in the northern port city of Hai Phong in Vietnam was launched May 13, making it the first deepwater port north of the country.
HICT is the first terminal in northern Vietnam with a berth deep enough to allow calls by 14,000-TEU container ships, said Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) in a statement.
The HITC is a joint venture between MOL (17.5%), Vietnam’s Saigon Newport Corporation (51%), Wan Hai Lines of Taiwan (16.5%), and Japan’s Itochu Corporation (15.0%).
“It will meet customer demands for shorter transit times and lower transport costs, while contributing to economic growth in Northern Vietnam, including Haiphong industrial park, since large-size container vessels, which offer direct links to Asia and North America/Europe, can call at the port,” MOL said.
“In addition, MOL participates in the tugboat business at Lach Huyen Port, so it will meet expanding demand for HICT by supporting the large containerships that will call with increasing frequency, while ensuring safe vessel operation.”
The opening of the terminal means the opening of Lach Huyen Port itself. The Lach Huyen Port construction project is the first public-private partnership between the government of Japan and Vietnam. HICT rents space to operate the container terminal.
The Hai Phong terminal is a 45-hectare maritime facility in Lach Huyen, Cat Hai District, east of Hai Phong, with two berths having a length of 750 meters. It has a depth of 16 meters to allow up to 14,000-TEU container ships to call. Maximum annual trade volume is about 1.1 million TEUs.
Construction of the port began on May 12, 2016 with a total investment of US$321 million.
According to Saigon Newport, the HICT is well located as it connects most of the inland waterways and coastal roads to Quang Ninh and the northern provinces. It also links to feeder terminals New Port 128, New Port 189, ICD New Port-Hai Phong, and ICD New Port Ha Nam, as well as to the northern and central key economic zones and to southwestern China.
“From HICT, import and export cargo from the North of Vietnam can be shipped on the mother vessels to Europe and America directly instead of transshipment via another overseas ports as before,” said Saigon Newport in a release.
The MOL group opened Tan Cang-Cai Mep International Terminal at Cai Mep Port in southern Vietnam in 2011, and has been focusing on infrastructure development in Vietnam. It is also expanding its logistics business operations in northern Vietnam, offering customs clearance, warehousing, and inland transport, and managing a container depot business in the Hai Phong area.
Photo courtesy of Saigon Newport
