HÀ NỘI — Quảng Nam Province has put into operation the Chu Lai Port as a key logistics hub for the central and Central Highlands region after a one-year upgrade and expansion.

The project carried out by the Trường Hải Auto Corporation (THACO) included the expansion of the berth upstream, the expansion and upgrading of the warehouse system and the completion of infrastructure, Trần Hữu Hoàng, Director of THACO Logistics Co., Ltd and Director of Chu Lai Port told Việt Nam News.

The project cost VNĐ120 billion (US$5.2 million), raising the level of investment to build Chu Lai Port from 2010 to the present to nearly VNĐ800 billion, he said.

“The port hosted 150 cargo ships with a total 600,000 tonnes of cargo including 23,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in the first six months this year,” said Hoàng.

Extended by 171 metres upstream, the Chu Lai berth measures nearly 500 metres, with a depth alongside berth of -9.5 metres capable of receiving three vessels of 20,000 tonnes at the same time. These include general cargo ships and liquid cargo ships. Before the upgrade the berth could only receive two 20,000- tonne vessels.

The warehouse and workshop system has been expanded from 71,040 square metres (2016) to 91,200, including bonded warehouses (57,600 square metres), warehouses (13,440 square metres), unpackaged cargo inspection workshops (20,160 square metres), among which the unpackaged cargo inspection workshop is an entirely new facility put into operation in early 2017.

Chu Lai Port is divided into three separate functional areas for different types of cargo, including containers, bulk and liquid cargo to meet the needs of ships arriving to load, unload and deliver freight.

New equipment

Chu Lai Port also invested in loading and unloading equipment, such as Liebherr cranes, tire cranes, container reach stackers, Folk Lift  with modern and complete loading and unloading equipment, with tugboats and more than 20 high-capacity tractors to ensure optimum port performance.

Besides serving the transportation of finished products, materials, spare parts for automotive production and assembly and supporting industries of THACO in Chu Lai, the port also provides a variety of useful services for external businesses and customers, including ship towing and rescue services; cargo loading, unloading, tallying, and warehousing; domestic inland shipping, freight forwarding and shipping agents; bridge and berth services, and related shipping services.

Hoàng said that among the total volume of cargo through the port, 15 per cent belong to more than 50 external enterprises, consisting mainly of food, agricultural products, plastic pieces, tires, paints, chemicals, batteries and consumer goods.

In addition to domestic shipping routes, the port has launched direct sea routes to Incheon Port in South Korea, and Fangcheng Port in China, and planned to open new routes to other ports in China, Korea and Japan. It also plans to provide further logistics service for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) businesses in the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone.

According to Hoàng, in order to build Chu Lai Port into a logistics hub of the key economic region, Chu Lai Port has proposed that Quảng Nam Province support the dredging of the channel to a depth of -10.7 metres to accommodate 30,000-tonne vessels by 2019, and further to a depth of -12 metres to accommodate 40,000-tonne vessels after 2020. 

Chu Lai Port was built in 2010 and put into operation in May 2012. It is the second biggest port in Quảng Nam Province after Kỳ Hà Port and was designed with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of bulk cargo and 150,000 TEUs per year. — VNS