Southern hub welcomes first Supramax vessel

May 24, 2014 | 17:00

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Ho Chi Minh City has opened a new chapter in its seaport operations with the welcoming of the first-ever 50,000 DWT vessel last week.

NYK Line’s Northern Genius 003N container vessel navigated the new Soai Rap passage to berth at Saigon Premier Container Terminal (SPCT) on the Saigon River in Nha Be district on Saturday. She was received by city leaders as the first Supramax ship to call on the city, which is part of the country’s giant southern seaport sysem.

In April, SPCT received its first 31,000 DWT vessel through the newly-dredged passage as a rehearsal for a later 50,000 DWT. Some other parts of the passage will continue to be dredged for other shipping companies’ Supramax ships to navigate after the Northern Genius.

According to SPCT deputy director Nguyen Le Chon Tam, the Long Tau passage was the most often used for container vessels looking to berth in Ho Chi Minh City. But with the opening of the Soai Rap passage, bigger vessels can arrive at SPCT via a shorter and faster route and with a quicker unloading time. “These advantages make Ho Chi Minh City’s seaport system much more competitive,” he said.

Vietnamese transport minister Dinh La Thang, this January asked relevant agencies to speed up work on major projects to improve the operational efficiency of Seaport System No.5 to make it a regional entrepot in the near future. The system includes all the ports in Ho Chi Minh City, and its neighbouring provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Nai.

The ports include: Saigon, Nha Be, Cat Lai, and SPCT in Ho Chi Minh City; Go Dau C, Phu My, Cai Mep, Vung Tau and Song Dinh in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province; and PhuHuu, OngKeo, Go Dau A and B, and Phuoc An in Dong Nai province

By By TuongThuy

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