Central city urges pre-feasibility study on Lien Chieu port

A new pier at Tien Sa Port in Da Nang. The port will be overloaded in 2020 with 10 million tonnes of cargo, and the port will host only cruise ships after 2030.-VNS Photo Cong Thanh

Chairman of the city People’s Committee, Huynh Duc Tho said the ministry should review the report from Da Nang before submitting the project to the Prime Minister next week.

Tho said preparations for the first stage of the project will be completed in 2018-19, and construction will commence in 2020.

He said the first stage of construction will focus on infrastructure including piers and dykes to serve logistics, storage and transhipment at the port from 2022.

Lien Chieu Port is designed to handle 3.5 to 5 million tonnes of cargo in the first stage from 2022.

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

Tho said the first stage will need funds of VND7.37 trillion (US$326 million), of which $152 million is earmarked for infrastructure, in 2018-22.

“The project is urgent as Tien Sa Port will be overloaded after 2020, while Da Nang plays as a key role in the central region. Lien Chieu port would help ease congestion on Ngo Quyen Street and reduce traffic accidents due to the high number of container trucks on the road,” Tho said.

“Tien Sa Port has handled 8.4 million tonnes of cargo in 2018, marking 16.2 per cent annual growth. The port also saw a 22.6 per increase in the number of container shipments, and Ngo Quyen is the main route for container trucks,” he said.

According to a report by the city’s traffic police department, the high number of container trucks (making about 1,500 trips each day) on Ngo Quyen Street disrupts tourism transport (coaches, vans and taxis for tourists) from the city centre and airport to beaches on Son Tra peninsula.

In the city’s Master Plan 2030-45, Da Nang will develop Lien Chieu Port into a major cargo port in the central region and the East-West Economic Corridor No 2 (EWEC2) connecting Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam with a total investment of VND32 trillion ($1.45 billion) in three phases.

The deep-sea Lien Chieu port is eligible for connection with railway and road systems from the EWEC2, the Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway, expansion of the Hai Van Tunnel and a new railway station.

A survey from the ministry of transport revealed that Da Nang, which is situated at the end of EWEC, would handle 29 million tonnes of cargo by 2030.

The central city’s port system including Tien Sa, Lien Chieu and Son Tra has been planned as the biggest integrated port among six seaports in Vietnam (Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Ky Ha, Dung Quat and Da Nang).

According to Vietnam’s seaport system development plan to 2020, Da Nang Port has been confirmed as a major commercial port in the region, making it one of the key gateways to the East Sea from the sub-Mekong region.