Vinamarine to make Mekong ports more accessible for large ships

The Vietnam Maritime Administration (Vinamarine) plans to dredge the Dinh An Passage and dig a new canal in the Mekong Delta to facilitate the passage of large ships to and from ports along the Hau River.

Speaking at a seminar in HCMC on Monday, Vuong Dinh Lam, head of Vinamarine, said the administration wanted to dredge the Dinh An Passage for ships of 5,000DWT.

A canal dubbed as Tat will be dug to link the Hau River with the Eastern Sea via the existing Quan Chanh Bo Canal to facilitate cargo transport as well as create a new waterway for ships from 10,000DWT to 20,000 DWT to access ports, he added.

Vinamarine said the canal project, proposed by the Vietnam-based consultant Portcoast, would take four to five years to develop at VND3.15 trillion (US$198 million).

The project, which is based on a research by a group of foreign and local consulting companies led by Canada’s SNC-Lavalin International, will require US$1.4 million a year to manage.

Lam said one of the biggest challenges for the ports along the Hau River in 12 provinces and Can Tho City in the delta is that the main waterways at the Dinh An estuary is currently blocked by thick layers of mud and soil deposits, hindering access by ships larger than 5,000 DWT.

To address the problem, Vinamarine plans to use a 20 km section of the Quan Chanh Bo Canal in Tra Cu District, Tra Vinh Province and dig a 9-km canal to bypass the Dinh An waterway.

Vinamarine also intends to build two river dykes with a total length of four km to block sea tides and prevent mud deposits on both sides of the canal. The two dykes, coupled with the dredging of the Dinh An Passage, the only link between the region’s ports and the sea, will allow bigger vessels to enter ports near the Hau River.

The Mekong Delta’s waterways are used to transport 12.5 million tons of goods a year. Due to poor sea and river transport infrastructure, 70% of the cargo volume has to be transported via bigger ports in HCMC, which in turn has driven up transportation costs and reduced the competitiveness of local farm products in domestic and international markets.

The continued build-up of alluvium in the Dinh An Passage prevents ships of more than 5,000 DWT from entering Can Tho Port and others upstream, so exports can only be shipped in small quantities to Southeast Asian countries.

A new waterway to replace Dinh An is considered the best way to improve the handling capacity of Can Tho Port and the others in the delta.

Upon completion, the new canal will help increase the handling capacity of these ports, which is forecast at 14.35 million tons per year by 2010 and 20.35 million tons by 2020.

During the 4-5 years of development of the canal, the Dinh An Passage will be dredged frequently to ensure that ships of 5,000-10,000 DWT may enter the ports.

At the seminar, professor Luong Phuong Hau, deputy head of Vietnam Water Ports and Continental Shelf, said Vinamarine should collect statistics and that local consultants should join forces with experienced foreign consultants in research to ensure success.

Professor Nguyen Ngoc Tran proposed an evaluation of the effect on the environment, the impact of climate change and the resulting rise in sea level be made.

Nguyen Ngoc Long, office manager of the Steering Committee of Key Transport Infrastructure Projects, said these issues must be addressed before submitting a proposal to the prime minister

The Ministry of Transport will coordinate with the planning-investment-finance ministries to seek funds for the project as well as plan for State budget and ODA loans. (SGT)