HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Marine Department has proposed a project to the transport ministry on dredging the Cái Mép-Thị Vải marine passage.

The idea is to enable Cái Mép-Thị Vải port in the central province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu to receive larger cargoes.

At present, the 30km-long passage is 14m deep, allowing cargoes with a maximum load of 8,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) to access the port while larger ones have to transfer goods to other smaller cargoes.

According to the proposal of the Marine Department, once the passage is deepened to 15.5m, it can handle cargoes with a load of up to 14,000 TEUs.

The dredging is estimated to cost VNĐ1.161 trillion (US$51 million), and if the project is approved this year, the work is expected to be completed in 2020.

Late last month, the party secretary of the southern province of Bà Riạ-Vũng Tàu, Nguyễn Hồng Lĩnh, proposed that the Ministry of Transport and the government consider developing the Cái Mép-Thị Vải port complex and Long Thành international airport into an economic centre of the south.

The Cái Mép-Thị Vải port complex, located in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu province, already received significant investment and was set to become one of the largest seaport centres in the country. However, according to the provincial Party Secretary, the port complex is currently using only a small part of its designed capacity, causing economic waste of national resources.

Therefore, provincial authorities have proposed that the government and the Ministry of Transport speed up the construction process of traffic infrastructure projects, including Biên Hòa-Vũng Tàu expressway and railway, provincial roads, ring roads and Phước An Bridge.

The ministry has also asked to push forward the dredging of Cái Mép-Thị Vải port and Gành Rái bay area to facilitate the transportation of goods. — VNS