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Access roads to ports… too “far”
By Shipping
Times, Sep 2009
"Far” does
not refer to "distance" but ‘time’ spent to go in and out ports.
Foreign investors…
response!
Some foreign investors, in
the letter to the leader of Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee, have expressed their
anxiety about the traffic jams in Ha Noi Highway area – Cat Lai T-junction, Ho
Chi Minh city. In spite of having been improved in mornings since the early
August 2009, the traffic is at a standstill in evenings, especially in the road
from High-Tech Zone to Sai Gon bridge. Investors assume that traffic safety and
its effect on health have been placed on a red alert, which takes considerably
negative impacts on the foreign investment in this area.
Correspondingly, foreign
investors have proposed some temporary solutions such as strengthening traffic
police forces during rush hours, intensifying the method of traffic directional
distribution, mobilizing barricades and traffic lights, forbidding driving and
parking during rush hours in the above routes and paying a heavy fine for
encroaching and speeding… With respect to fundamental solutions, investors have
suggested to speedily accomplish the expansion of lanes and belt-line roads as
to smooth trucks’operation in Cat Lai port area, exhibiting the collaboration of
stabilizing the traffic and conducting the night construction between relevant
offices.
“The foresaid obstacles are,
if not satisfactorily surmounted, to take negative effects on the foreign
investment in Vietnam due to significantly high costs arising from traffic jams”
say investors. This is the first time foreign investors have raised an official
proposal on the traffic jams in Ho Chi Minh city.
In reality, the lack of
synchronism of infrastructure system network as a barrier for investors is not
only situated in Ho Chi Minh city. For evidence, Thi Vai area sea terminal,
according to the Planning, primarily depends on 3 main road routes: the
inter-port road, the national highway 51 and the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau highway.
Apart from the national highway 51, the others are still not yet “taken in
shape”. Unavoidedly, the national highway 51, after the accomplishment of port
relocation in coming years, is to find it extremely difficult to accommodate
even only a half of number of containers transported from Ho Chi Minh city to
Cai Mep terminal.
In addition, new road system
in service of deep-water terminals is also nerving investors and transporters
both. They assume that container traffic jams which are being situated in Ho Chi
Minh city are to recur in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province also. For details, Vietnam’s
first two deep-water terminals namely Tan Cang – Cai Mep and SP – PSA (phase 1)
are weekly accommodating Vessels’cargoes by modern equipment while the road
connecting the national highway 51 with the terminal is ‘equipped’ with
pot-holes and the clearance is still in slow proces… Also, the gateway where
vessels can enter Thi Vai deep-water terminal is bumpy as well. The channel near
the buoy no 8 is about 500m in length and about 9.4m only in depth. As thus,
vessels, for safety, should enter the terminal upon the tidal increase of
additional 3.2m. Besides, the fishery on Thi Vai river is also blocking
container vessels’operation. Presently, in addition to tug boats, there should
be a cano to get ahead to smooth vessels’operation. According to an operator of
a shipping Agent, no matter how loudly a vessel’s whistle is blown, fishermen
keep casting fishing-net phlegmatically.
As stated by Mr Pham Anh
Tuan, the Project Manager of Portcoast Consultant Corporation (Portcoast), the
construction of transport and yard infrastructure system linking to the sea port
on Thi Vai river is expected to be satisfactorily accomplished in 2015-2020
period.
Lack of….synchronism!
According to Mr Pham Anh
Tuan, container ports along Thi Vai river, after coming into operation, are
expected to accommodate 9-million-TEU-total cargos. Meanwhile, there, in 2008,
was the 5.023 million TEU cargo throughput in sea ports in Vietnam, of which sea
ports in Ho Chi Minh, Dong Nai and Vung Tau areas accounted for 70%.
Accordingly, Thi Vai river port system, with the yearly 20% growth rate of
container cargo volume, is to be able to accommodate the 9-million-TEU cargos
only until 2020 and a few years later on, without transit cargos to be expected
to be operated by foreign shipping Agents and port investors.
Presently, along Thi Vai
river have come out very many ports. In addition to the two deep-water ports
namely Tan Cang – Cai Mep and SP – PSA, there are a series of specialized ports
and bulk ship ports having just come into operation such as PVC port, LPG port,
Vung Tau Petro port, Go Dau area ports, Phu My port…, not including deep-water
ports being in construction or in preparation of construction such as SITV, CMIT,
SSIT, Gemalink, My Xuan and Cai Mep – Thi Vai (ODA capital). In reality, it
takes about 3 years average to construct a sea port while it takes much longer
time to construct a infrastructure system consisting of sound roads, railways,
communications, power and water supplies As access roads are not yet
constructed, sea ports are to be impossible to enter into operation. Presently,
the two new-born deep-water ports in Thi Vai area are still accommodating
containers mainly by waterway barges. In coming years, cargos from the
surrounding industrial zones in Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Dong Nai provinces are to
be transported to ports by road. Therefore, investors are surely to run into
considerable difficulties if the construction of roads is still unfinished.
Noteworthily, it is
essential to exhibit logistics in transit ports in order to attract customers.
Currently, the planning of ship repair and supply services refers to supplies of
drinks, food and gas only. For ship repair service, Vietnam finds it impossible
to compete with other countries. Ship accessories, practically, have to be
imported from Singapore and the cost and time of ship repair have no competitive
advantages as a result, according to Mr Do Van Minh, the General Director of
Gemadept.
The empowerment of issuing
investment licenses for local authorities is assumed to take considerable
effects on the scale of projects as well as post-port infrastructure network. As
documented by Portcoast, the former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, on his visit to
Thi Vai port complex in 2005, highlighted the synchronism and interconnection
between Long Tau, Sai Gon and Thi Vai rivers, and expressed his anxiety about
the sign of “pettiness” and lack of synchronism. The former Prime Minister adds
that waterway system is the common resource for the whole area and the motive
for development not only for the Southern motive industrial Zone but also for
the Western Highland and the Mekong Delta. Therefore, sea port plannings should
not be divided based on administrative boundary.
In August 18th,
in SP-PSA international terminal, Verrazano Bridge Ship with the tonnage of
54.519 tons was launched for the first time from Vietnam to the East of the U.S
by K-line Shipping Agent. The Agent had previously launched its first ship to
the West of the US. It takes about 15 days to directly ship containers from the
departure to the destination instead of 17 days including a transit. In addition
to the Shipping Agents namely APL, MOL, Hanjin and K-line exhibiting their ships
in Tan Cang – Cai Mep and SP – PSA, a mass of significant shipping Agents namely
Zim Line, Hapag Lloyd, Maersk Line, MSC… are expected to launch their ships to
the U.S. However, SP – PSA and Tan Cang – Cai Mep terminals, upon the existing
material facilities, find it extremely difficult to accommodate all the above
ships.
On the accasion of Thi
Vai river area deep-water port coming into being, foreign shipping Agents are
planned to launch a mass of their ships to Vietnam. According to the Mitsui
O.S.K Line Shipping Agent (MOL), the project on operating Cai Mep port as a
transit port for the regional countries is up to the progress of port
construction as well as the capacity of handling of ports.
Presently, Hiep Phuoc
port area has begun to be “taken in shape”. In this area, there are a series of
ports which are being constructed such as SPCT port (as invested by Dubai World
- one of the world’s top sea port investors), Sai Gon – Hiep Phuoc port
(stemming from relocation plan for Sai Gon port)… As appointed by the Chairman
of Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee, the final items of SPCT port are in speedy
construction in order that the port is to be able to come into operation in
November 2009. There is currently one Nguyen Van Tao road only which connects to
Hiep Phuoc industrial zone, where ports are all located. The local internal road
has recently had to reluctantly “break its back” to bear thousands of trucks
with the tonnage of tens of tons instead of 8 tons maximum departing from the
industrial zone and has been seriously downgraded as a result. It is proposed
that to avoid the increasing traffic jams in Ho Chi Minh area, waterway traffic
be considered to be a life-line in Hiep Phuoc port area planning instead of road
traffic as presently.
CKYH association group
including COSCO, K-Line, Yangming and Hanjin Shipping Agents has just added Cai
Mep area port group into the Asian Shipping Line to the North America. The Line,
on route, is to pass over the Panama canal and arrive in the New York, Norfolk
and Halifax cities located in the West of the U.S and Canada, i.e, large vessels
launched from Cai Mep shall arrive in both the West and East of the U.S.
Khánh Hội
(Translated by Portcoast)
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