The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has announced the initial results from The Data Collection Survey on the Development of Lien Chieu Port, and proposed planning strategies for the Port and its surrounding areas for the 2025-2040 period.

An artist’s impression of the Lien Chieu Port project

The JICA survey costed 50 million Japan yen, or 11 billion VND (468,000US$) which were provided by Japan’s non-refundable Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding.

The survey reveals that the total volume of goods transported through the Da Nang Port over the past decade increased by about 13%. In 2019 alone, the container cargo volume rose by 10.5 million tonnes, almost reaching the maximum capacity of the Port. Given the fast port development pace, the research and development of Lien Chieu Port is very essential.

The development of Lien Chieu Port is one of two key projects that aim to turn the central city into a main logistics centre in ASEAN and the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) that links Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.

According to a pre-feasibility study, the Lien Chieu Port covers a total planned area of 220ha, comprising 5 main functional areas, with a total investment of 32,861 billion VND (1.4 billion US$).

The construction of the project is expected to be broken down into 3 stages. The first stage is expected to be completed by 2022 at an estimated cost of 7,380 billion VND, with the second, worth 7,857 billion VND, finished in 2030, and the third completed by 2050 with a cost of 17,626 billion VND.

Under the first stage of the much-awaited Lien Chieu Port, focus will be on infrastructure, including piers, dykes, storage and transshipment services for handling 3.5 to five million tonnes of cargo.

In detail, it could allow access of cargo ships of up to 100,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) and container ships with loading capacities from 6,000 to 8,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) as well as 10,000DTW liquid cargo vessels.

A view of the planned area earmarked for the Lien Chieu Port project

Da Nang has been on right course to turn itself into an international-standard logistics centre for Viet Nam, ASEAN and the Asia Pacific region by 2030.

Currently, a total of 12 million tonnes of cargo are handled through local seaports each year, and the figure will reach 27.2 million tonnes by 2030, and 92.5 million tonnes by 2045.

Under the long-term plans, Tien Sa Port, which has been overloaded with cruise and cargo ships, will be used as a major port for cruises only, while Lien Chieu Port will handle cargo ships and be a main logistics centre for the north-south railway and road systems and the EWEC.

The final report on the survey on the Lien Chieu Port construction is expected to be completed by late this year, in a bid to help lift the project off the drawing board the better the sooner.

By THU HA – Translated by A.T