Construction of the Gemalink-Cai Mep Port, touted to be the largest at the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex in Vietnam once completed, has slowed down because cargo throughput has fallen and ship calls have declined at the port complex.
Completion of the deepwater port, a joint venture between Vietnam-based Gemadept Corporation and France’s CMA-CGM, has been postponed as a result of poor business at the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex in the Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, according to a report by the VPA Shipping Times.
A Gemadept official said carriers have stopped sending their mother ships to the port complex and instead are sending feeder ships to transport goods to transshipment ports overseas.
The development project, whose construction was awarded to South Korea’s Dealim-SAMWHA, was initially scheduled to operate in 2013 with an estimated capacity of 1.2 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) a year. Gemadept, however, has decided to put off the launch of the port indefinitely until the market situation improves.
Photo: Brian Finifter
