In the short term, it is an urgent task to commence work on the Lien Chieu deep-sea mega-port to capture competitive advantages as soon as possible, in tandem with expanding operations at the existing Tien Sa port.

An artist’s impression of the Lien Chieu Port project

The statement was made by Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat during the Wednesday meeting with municipal People's Committee Vice Chairman Le Quang Nam and other relevant agencies on the maintenance of marine infrastructure, seaports and waterway development planning in Da Nang.

According to the Construction Consultancy Joint Stock Company for Maritime Building, the Da Nang Port is a national class I port, including Tien Sa port and the Tho Quang and Lien Chieu terminals.

The Da Nang Port’s website states that it owns nearly 1,200m of berths with the capacity of receiving cargo vessels up to 70,000 DWT, container ships up to 4,000 TEUs, and passenger ships up to 170,000 GRT; in addition, the loading and unloading equipment and modern warehouse.

At present when the Lien Chieu mega-port has yet to be developed, the Tien Sa port still secures its important role in accelerating the city’s the maritime industry. Based on this fact, it is necessary to increase the operating hours of vehicles entering and leaving this port, especially at the current low cruise ship season triggered by the complicated COVID-19 pandemic.

Of special notes, once the Lien Chieu port is put into operation, it is still necessary to maintain the capacity of the Tien Sa port, with a priority given to handling only container ships with clean freight and receiving international cruise ships. If the Tien Sa only receives cruise ship arrivals, its functionality will not be fully tapped.

According to the leaders of the Viet Nam Maritime Administration, with the current growth pace, by 2022, the output of goods transported through the Tien Sa port will have hit the ceiling of 12 million tonnes/ year.

Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Transport Le Thanh Hung affirmed that Da Nang’s cross-cutting view of point is to limit the development of loading goods on the inland waterway system and developing landscape planning and riverside tourism instead.

It is also proposed to put the Lien Chieu port in order of priority in terms of capital disbursement for development, and gradually turning Tien Sa port into a tourist port in the future.

After 2030, the Tien Sa port 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 East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC).

Under the Lien Chieu Port, the focus will be on developing shared infrastructure, including piers and dykes, container terminals and warehouses, developing areas of transport and logistics, equipment used for loading and unloading operations, and transshipment services for handling 3.5 to 5 million tonnes of cargo.

In detail, the port 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), plus 10,000DTW liquid cargo vessels.

Domestic experts had previously affirmed that the Lien Chieu port, which will be few times bigger than the existing Tien Sa port, will help reduce traffic congestion, leading to faster delivery of goods.

Likewise, an expert from Japan Port Consultants, said that Da Nang eventually will have to build the new port if it wants to be the next Busan in South Korea or the next Hong Kong.

By VINH NHAN – Translated by A.T