Chu Lai port progresses towards logistics centre in Central Vietnam
According to information from the Office of Quang Nam People's Committee on August 5, after nearly one year of construction which began in August of last year, the project to expand Chu Lai port in Chu Lai open economic zone (Quang Nam) has been completed.
Invested by Chu Lai - Truong Hai Port Limited Company, the project includes expanding the wharf toward the upstream; expanding and upgrading the warehouse system and facilitating infrastructural development.
With a total cost of VND120 billion, the project contributes to raising total investment in building Chu Lai port since 2010 to nearly VND800 billion, targeting to improve the capacity of its logistics service chain and build the port into a logistics centre.
With 171m further extended towards the upstream, the Chu Lai wharf now has a total length of nearly 500m, with the depth in front of the berth at 9.5m, capable of receiving three vessels at the same time with tonnage ranging to 20,000 tonnes, including general cargo ships and liquid ones (previously a maximum of two vessels of 20,000 tonnes was the total allotted capacity).
Warehouse and workshop system has been expanded from 71,040m2 in 2016 to 91,200m2, including bonded warehouse (57,600m2), warehouse (13,440m2) and inspection workshop (20,160m2), in which the workshop is an entirely new item that have been put into operation in early 2017.
The Chu Lai port is divided into three separate functional areas for different types of cargo, including container, bulk and liquid cargo, meeting the needs of shipping lines and regional businesses on arrival.
Besides the upgraded warehouse system is a firm logistics area for cargo through the port. Chu Lai port also invests in supporting equipment such as Liebherr cranes, forklifts and modern loading and unloading equipment with high capacity to ensure optimum performance of the port's activities.
Chu Lai port can currently pick up three transport vessels of 20,000 tonnes at the same time. (Credit: dantri.com.vn)
According to Tran Huu Hoang, Chu Lai port’s director, 15% of total cargo through the port comes from 50 outside enterprises, mainly food, agricultural products, plastic materials, tires, paints, chemicals, batteries and consumer goods.
In addition to inland transportation, Chu Lai port has two-way services: Chu Lai - Fangcheng (China) and Chu Lai - Incheon (the Republic of Korea). It will open international maritime routes from Korean, Chinese and Japanese ports directly to Chu Lai port, opening up opportunities for trading from the Chu Lai open economic zone to major seaports around the world and reduce transportation costs for investors in the central key economic region.
Chu Lai port authorities said that to improve the port's capacity, during 2018-2020, it propose to Quang Nam province for support in dredging channel to a depth of 10.7m to be able to receive ships of 30,000 tonnes by 2019 and continue dredging to a depth of 12m to receive ships of 40,000 tonnes after 2020.
The port of Chu Lai was built in 2010 and put into operation in May 2012. It owns a long channel of 11km, connected with National Road No. 1A and Da Nang - Quang Ngai Expressway.
The port is built as a model modern port with a solid harbor structure, using advanced technologies from modern ports in countries around the world. The terminal's capacity reaches 1.5 million tonnes of composite goods and 150,000 TEUs of containers per year.
In the first six months of 2017, the port received 150 ships, implementing nearly 200 towing services, and handling 23,000 TEU containers and 140,000 tonnes of bulk cargo, equivalent to 600,000 tonnes of cargo through the port. In particular, containerised cargo increased by 10% compared to last year.
