APM Terminals signs Vietnam contract
CMIT was formed in 2007 as a joint venture between APM Terminals (49%), the state-owned port of Saigon, and state-owned Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines). CMIT inked the construction deal with a joint venture by South Korea's POSCO EC and SAMWHAN Corporation.
The new terminal is due to come onstream late 2010 with a draft of 14 metres and a handling capacity of some 1.1 million TEUs per year, according to reports.
Global operators such as APM Terminals have in recent months been answering the Vietnamese government's call for foreign investments in the country's infrastructure as part of the country's drive towards modernisation.
CMIT's project comes on the back of several other Vietnamese port developments, which have been integral to the government's initiative to spur national economic growth.
One of 30 key national projects under a master plan for sea ports is the Vinalines-PetroVietnam JV to build the $637 million Ben Dinh-Sao Mai port complex, which will largely comprise oil and gas facilities, in southern Vietnam's coastal Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
Another major project in the pipeline is the estimated $1.6 billion Lach Huyen port in the northern city of Hai Phong.
Vinalines is planning an international partnership for that project and Belgium's port of Zeebrugge is expected to undertake construction.
Vinalines has also been given the go-ahead to build a $185 million port complex in central Vietnam's Khanh Hoa province.
The project will see the development of the Van Phong port in Khanh Hoa's Van Phong Economic Zone into an international port facility, with two berths each able to accommodate vessels of up to 9,000 TEUs.
Initial construction was scheduled to begin this year while completion, projected for 2010, will see the port's handling capacity rise to 700,000 tonnes of cargo shipments per year.
Meanwhile, Saigon International Terminals Vietnam Limited (SITV), the country's first major port development, is scheduled to be operational as early as 2010, with a total quay length of 730 metres and a harbour depth of 14 metres.
SITV, a JV between Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) and Saigon Investment Construction & Commerce Company Limited (SICC), is located in the industrial Cai Mep and Thi Vai districts also in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
Work to build PSA International Pte. Ltd.'s first Vietnamese deep-water port project has also officially begun, in October last year.
Japanese firm Penta-Ocean Construction Co Ltd is undertaking construction on the first phase of a multi-purpose deep-water port complex at the Cai Mep-Thi Vai river in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau for operator SP-PSA.
SP-PSA is a joint venture between state-owned Saigon Port, Vinalines and PSA Vietnam Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore's PSA International Pte. Ltd.
Strategically located near the mouth of the Cai Mep-Thi Vai river, SP-PSA is well positioned to serve Vietnam's projected rapid increase in container throughput and become a major hub for Southeast Asia.
The port is expected to handle up to 2 million TEUs per year.