Key infrastructure items on the development of Liên Chiểu container port are completed after two years of construction. —Photo courtesy of Đà Nẵng City’s Management Unit of Priority Infrastructure Projects

Compiled by Công Thành 

ĐÀ NẴNG — The development of Liên Chiểu Port and its shared infrastructure is expected to deliver major economic benefits and become a powerful driver for Đà Nẵng’s sustainable growth, positioning the city as an international gateway port in central Việt Nam and integrating it more deeply into global maritime transport chains in the decades ahead.

Lê Thành Hưng, head of Đà Nẵng’s management unit for priority infrastructure projects, highlighted the strategic importance of the Liên Chiểu deep-sea port after a series of key works for the port’s infrastructure project were completed by the end of December 2025. These included a 1.17km breakwater dyke system and the dredging of a 7.3km shipping channel, paving the way for preparatory works ahead of the construction of the first two container berths, scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2026.

“The construction of Liên Chiểu deep-sea port will be one of the key pillars in the city’s master plan to 2030, with a vision to 2045, when Đà Nẵng’s socio-economic development will be based on three main pillars: tourism, high-tech industries and the sea-based economy. The port has been designed on an area of 450ha, including water space, with a total handling capacity of 50 million tonnes of cargo per year,” Hưng said.

“Liên Chiểu Port will serve as the main logistics centre for the north-south railway and road systems, and as an international gateway for the central coastal region. The port will become an international gateway and a logistics hub for Việt Nam, ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as a key entry point to the East Sea from the sub-Mekong region.”

“It will be capable of accommodating vessels of up to 100,000 DWT, with a system of berths for container ships, bulk cargo, liquid and gas carriers, barges and public port authorities, while also ensuring defence and security services,” he added.

The first phase of construction will include two to four berths and piers, providing services with a capacity of between 7.5 million and 11.9 million tonnes of cargo to meet international transhipment demand by 2030.

The port has been designed with 22 berths, including eight container berths with a capacity of 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Construction of the first two berths will focus on international container shipping services, reflecting Liên Chiểu’s role as a major commercial port in the region and one of the key gateways to the East Sea from the sub-Mekong region.

He revealed that two investor groups had submitted bids. One is a partnership between local Hateco Group and the Netherlands’ APM Terminals B.V., while the other brings together Việt Nam Maritime Corporation and Terminal Investment Limited Holding of Luxembourg. Their bidding documents were submitted at the tender closing and opening on December 24.

“We are working with consultancy firms and relevant agencies to review the bidding documents of the two consortiums for approval by the city’s authorities in January, and a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the first container berths is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2026,” he said.

A sea dyke section on the Liên Chiểu Port is built as a key section in the development of an overall port service plan in Đà Nẵng City. The first investors in the first two container berths have been reviewed for construction in 2026. Photo courtesy of Đà Nẵng City’s Management Unit of Priority Infrastructure Projects

“It is expected that the first two container berths will be put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2028, while two more berths will start construction from the first quarter of 2029 to the fourth quarter of 2032, with operations planned from the first quarter of 2033,” he said.

He added that the final three berths would be built between 2033 and 2035 for use in 2036.

“The early operation of the Liên Chiểu container port would help Đà Nẵng City improve cargo clearance capacity, reduce logistics costs and attract import-export demand from the city and the central region," he said.

“Liên Chiểu container port would also help lure investment into industrial parks, the planned Free Trade Zone, international logistics centres and port services.”

An overall view from the Hàn River to the planned Liên Chiểu deep-sea port in Đà Nẵng City. The central hub will build a series of berths to serve logistics and international transhipment service in 2026-28. Photo courtesy of Hi-Tech Park Authority

Liên Chiểu Port is regarded as one of the most important projects in the Master Plan, linked to the newly established Free Trade Zone. It will be built on a total area of 450ha with an investment of VNĐ3.4 trillion (US$130 million).

The 22-berth port, designed to serve as the main logistics centre for the north-south railway and road systems and the East-West Economic Corridor 2 (EWEC2) linking Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Việt Nam via Đà Nẵng’s port system, will be developed as an international gateway port, the third in Việt Nam after Lạch Huyện Port in Hải Phòng City and Cái Mép-Thị Vải. — VNS