QUẢNG TRỊ — Large sand deposits at a sea gate in the central province of Quảng Trị have been preventing ships from entering the Cửa Tùng Harbour for a year now.

Fishermen complain that it’s a struggle for local fishing ships to return to the province’s Cửa Tùng fish port. Sand deposits have made the water near the port so shallow that ships cannot access it, Nguyễn Văn Hùng, a fisherman, said. We have to use smaller boats to transport our catch from the fishing ships to the harbour, Tùng added.

Other fishermen said their ships had to wait for the tide to rise to be able to reach the port to deliver their catch.

Fishermen said their costs have increased as they have to hire small boats to deliver the seafood as well as to reserve food before long fishing trips.

The port itself now faces bankruptcy as the operation of its logistics system has beeen negatively affected, putting at risk the jobs of hundreds of workers.

Lê Văn Sơn, the port’s director, said the sand deposits are from Cửa Tùng Beach. He said he has asked local authorities to get the sand dredged and shifted back to the beach, but has yet to receive a response.

The province People’s Committee said it had roped in a company from Hà Nội to do the dredging work via a public-private partnership contract in April, but the company delayed starting the work. The committee is now looking for another contractor, it said.

The port, operational since 2008, has an entrance channel that is 60m wide and has a depth of 3.1m. Its width has now reduced to just 5m, and its depth to 0.8m. — VNS