Vietnamese Prime Minister (PM) Nguyen Xuan Phuc has already granted an investment policy decision to the development of shared infrastructure in the Lien Chieu deep-sea mega-port project in Da Nang. The municipal People's Committee (PC) will act as the governance body for this large-scale landmark project.

An artist’s impression of the Lien Chieu Port project

Under the new Lien Chieu Port project, the shared infrastructure construction will feature piers and dykes, container terminals and warehouses, developing areas of transport and logistics, equipment used for loading and unloading operations, and transshipment services for an annual capacity of handling a combined total of 3.5 to 5 million tonnes of cargo.

The would-be port could receive 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 10,000 DTW liquid cargo vessels.

It is known that the shared infrastructure construction in the new port will be carried out during the 2020 – 2024 period at a cost of 3,426.3 billion VND funded by Viet Nam's national and Da Nang governments.

Of this, nearly 3 trillion VND is funded by the national government, whilst the remainder comes from the city budget and its medium-term plans for public investment during the 2021 – 2025 period.

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

The PM demands that the Da Nang PC complete a pre-feasibility study report on the development of shared infrastructure in the Lien Chieu Port, based on collecting constructive recommendations from the Ministry of Transport, and other relevant national agencies.

Also, the project will be carried out once its the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report EIA is appraised and approved by competent agencies in accordance with Vietnamese laws.

In addition, the municipal People's Committee is required to urgently implement procedures to organise the selection of highly qualified investors to implement the construction of the port, with heed paid to ensuring publicity and transparency in compliance with the provisions of Vietnamese laws.

The municipal authorities is in charge of ensuring the progress of bringing the shared infrastructure of the port into operation in an effectively synchronous manner, and working with the Ministry of Transport to upgrade the traffic system connecting with the new Lien Chieu Port site.

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

Currently, a combined total of 12 million tonnes of cargo are handled through Da Nang ports every year, and the figure will reach 27.2 million tonnes by 2030, and 92.5 million tonnes by 2045.

The planning map of the new Lien Chieu Port project

Under the long-term plans, Tien Sa Port, built by the Americans in 1965, 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 become a main logistics centre for the north-south railway and road systems and the EWEC.

Domestic experts affirmed that the new Lien Chieu Port, which will be few times bigger than the existing 27-hectare Tien Sa, 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 THANH LAN- Translated by A.T