The newly opened Cai Lan International Container Terminal (CICT) processed its first call in end-August with the berthing at this north Vietnam harbor of a Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) vessel.
The MSC Pylos, a 2,020 20-foot-equivalent-unit (TEU) container vessel, docked at CICT on August 31 to unload 879 containers and load 330 boxes, according to an online news report carried by the Vietnam Seaports Association. It is one of three vessels on MSC’s Tongking service making weekly calls at CICT. The service’s port rotation is Cai Lan, Quy Nhon, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Shantou, Hong Kong, and Cai Lan.
CICT, located along the left bank of the Hon Gai-Cai Lan channel in Quang Ninh province, is about 90 kilometers from Bac Ninh province and 150 kilometers from the Noi Bai airport. It is linked by road and railway to the Greater Mekong sub-region in southwest China.
The terminal, which had its soft opening on August 1, has two berths measuring a total of 387 meters, a nine-hectare container yard, four post-Panamax STS cranes, and 12 RTGs. It has an annual capacity of 260,000 TEUs and can accommodate 4,000-TEU box ships and other types of vessels of up to 50,000dwt, according to the report.
The terminal is scheduled for official launching in December 2012. By then, its two berths will measure 594 meters long and its container yard will be 18 hectares in size. Its annual capacity will be 520,000 TEUs, but this is projected to increase to 1.2 million TEUs by 2016 with plans to further expand the container yard and invest in more equipment.
CICT is a joint venture between SSA Holdings international-Vietnam, a subsidiary of Seattle-based Carrix, and Cai Lan Port Investment Consortium, whose main shareholders are Vinalines, Vietnam National Shipping Lines, and Quang Ninh Port.
Photo: jdnx
