Triple-E container ship docks at Cai Mep international terminal

Margrethe Maersk, a Triple-E container ship. - Photo VNA

With the arrival of Margrethe Maersk, CMIT, located downstream Cai Mep River of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, is the first port in Vietnam and the 19th in the world to be able to handle an 18,300-TEU Triple-E vessel, according to the Sai Gon Giai phong (Liberated Saigon) daily.

Margrethe Maersk, built by Danish container shipping company Maersk Line, is 399.2m long and 59m wide and has a deadweight tonnage of 194,000.

Triple-E is a class of the world’s largest container ship. The name is derived from its three design principles: Economy of scale, energy efficiency, and environmentally friendly.

In recent years, about 30 per cent of Vietnam’s containers destined for faraway markets had to transit ports in Hong Kong (China), Singapore or Malaysia, which has added to the delivery costs and time.

The vessel Margrethe Maersk is arriving at Cai Mep to load goods to be transported to Europe. With this direct trip, transport time for Vietnamese goods will be cut by a day and transport expense by 10-20 percent, compared with the traditional shipping routes, which would transit at other countries.

CMIT managing director Robert Hambleton said the arrival of Margrethe Maersk is a landmark for both CMIT and Vietnam. It proves the capacity of the port and the country, which can become a point of transit for goods being transported from Asia to Europe.

Under a plan for seaport development in Vietnam until 2020, the Cai Mep complex of container terminals consists of CMIT, Tan Cang-Cai Mep ODA Terminal and SP-SSA International Terminal. It was designated to be a deep-water port complex capable of handling container ships of more than 100,000 DWT.

About 1.36 million TEU of goods was handled by the Cai Mep complex in 2015. The volume increased by 47 per cent in the following year to more than 2 million TEU.

The inclusion of CMIT in the network of terminals eligible for receiving Triple-E vessels by 2M Alliance of Maersk Line and MSC demonstrates the strategic position of the Cai Mep complex, and the successful handling of Margrethe Maersk is also a step towards turning this complex into an international point of transit for containers.

In October 2016, Lloyd’s List named CMIT as one of the top four port operators in Asia.