(DTCK) The proportion of cargo throughput via the Southeast port group in general and Cai Mep - Thi Vai port cluster in particular is constantly increasing. In addition, with the trend of upgrading vessel sizes and policies to regulate cargo flow among ports in the region and with current capacity of the ports in the region, Cai Mep - Thi Vai port cluster is facing a challenging problem of deep sea port supply in the coming time.
According to the statistics of the Vietnam Seaports Association (VPA), with the growth of import and export volume in recent years, the proportion of cargo throughput via Southeastern port group has been increasing compared to the whole country.
If in 2013, this port group accounted for only 68% of the national market share, by 2018, this ratio had increased to nearly 75% - equivalent to 3/4 of the country's cargo throughput.
After 5 years of implementing the Project to improve management efficiency, according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration, seaports in group 5 and in Cai Mep - Thi Vai cluster showed that the movement of cargo from Ho Chi Minh City area to Cai Mep became increasingly clear.
Specifically, the proportion of cargo via Ho Chi Minh City seaports gradually decreased from 65.2% in 2013 to 55.9% in 2018; On the contrary, the proportion of cargo via seaports in Ba Ria - Vung Tau area increased from 30.6% to 34.1%.
The quickly increasing cargo volume has caused overloaded situation in many ports. In Cai Mep, the deep-sea ports so far handling container cargo such as the port system of Tan Cang and Vinalines have almost reached their designed capacity.
Other ports, such as SSIT, from handling bulk cargo during the downturn of shipping market have shifted to handle container cargo despite limited facilities.
The trend of deep-sea ports is indispensable
The supply of deep-sea ports in the country is still limited and not in line with the changing trend of the world.
In order to meet the demand for cargo transport and to optimize shipping operations, the container shipping industry is undergoing drastic changes in the direction of upgrading vessel sizes, increasing the capacity on each shipment.
Over the past decade, both the average and maximum sizes of container vessels have doubled. Shipping lines have also been building more and more mega-ships.
Accordingly, the construction of mega-ports with larger scale, deeper draft and longer berth is an indispensable trend of marine economies in the world in general and Vietnam in particular.
Remarkably, deep-sea ports are also an urgent requirement in the context of positive growth of Vietnam's exports and the strong support from free trade agreements and foreign direct investment (FDI).
Specifically, according to the forecast, with the signing of EVFTA and CPTPP agreements, Vietnam's export turnover to the EU will increase progressively by 20% in 2020, 42.7% in 2025 and 44, 37% in 2030, compared to the scenario without EVFTA or CPTPP;
Vietnam's GDP will increase by 1.32%, equivalent to 1.7 billion USD by 2030 and the total increase in export turnover of over 4% (equivalent to 4.09 billion USD) iby 2030 compared to the scenario without CPTPP …
Solution to Vietnam's deep-sea port demand
In order to develop Cai Mep as a transshipment hub to compete with other ports in the region, the demand for deep-sea ports is raising a challenge to be resolved by Vietnam.
The solution is a timely introduction of a real deepsea port to resolve the "thirst" of deepsea ports of the market.
Being resumed for construction from February this year and will be put into operation from the fourth quarter of 2020, Gemalink deep-sea port of Gemadept (GMD) will be the most accurate and timely answer to the market demand.
Situated at the most strategic location in Cai Mep - Thi Vai port cluster, conveniently inland and waterway connected with Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong and the Mekong Delta, Gemalink deep-sea port project has special competitive advantages with deep draft, being convenient for vessel turning, equipment and main berths being capable to accommodate 3 world largest mother vessels of 200,000 DWT at the same time.
Especially, the cargo commitment by the two sharesholders GMD and CMA-CGM, along with the shipping lines in the alliance as well as other shipping lines who are GMD’s long-term partners will ensure sufficient cargo source for the Port to fully operate right in the first year of operation and double GMD's port capacity for the whole network.
It can be said that, along with meeting the demand for deep-sea ports of the region and the country, such large scale deep-sea port projects as Gemalink are the key to meeting and attracting potential cargo sources, contributing to improving the capacity and infrastructure, promoting Vietnam's marine economic growth.
If in the world, China has Shanghai, Hong Kong ports, Korea has Busan port, Singapore has PSA … then in Vietnam, Gemalink is the name that deserves being mentioned on map of region and international deep-sea port map.
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