VietNamNet Bridge – More and more ports have been built over the last few years, which has led to the oversupply. A lot of ports have been operating at a moderate level because of the excess of supply over the demand.

The Cai Mep – Thi Vai deep water port is believed to have the capacity of 1 million tons a year. However, since too many harbors have been set up there by TCCT, SITV, Germalink, SSIT and TCIT, the designed capacity is 6 million tons per annum.

In the Mekong River Delta, tens of big ports have been developed. However, the report of the Can Tho Port Authorities, 15 harbors have been running at just 50 percent of the designed capacity. The ports of Sa Dec, Binh Long in An Giang province, and Cao Lanh port have always been deserted.

According to Won Joon Lee, a senior executive of Accenture, management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, seaport development always requires large scale investments. With the larger investment scale, the cost would be low, and vice versa.

And a seaport would not be able to operate effectively if it cannot be associated with the government, customs agencies, logistics service providers, shipping firms. Especially, the ports need to be developed under a transparent port development program.

Fox Chu, also from Accenture, noted that the existing ports in Vietnam still cannot operate effectively because of the problems in the cooperation between relevant units, which have made the costs higher and the capacity lower.

In 2012, the harbors in Vietnam ran at 20-30 percent of the designed capacity, which was the main reason behind the high costs.

A 40 foot container would bear the transport cost lower by 28 percent if it is carried from Hong Kong to Los Angeles than from Vietnam.

Meanwhile, a lot of ports have been left idle because of the lack of the long term vision of the developers. The Song Hau Food Company built the Tra Noc Port in Can Tho City in 2003. However, 90 percent of the company’s rice has to be lightered to the Cat Lai port in HCM City for export, because the big tonnage vessels cannot dock at the port.

The My Thoi Port in Long Xuyen City of An Giang province is designed to be capable to receive the vessels of up to 50,000 tons. However, in the current conditions of the passage, it can only receive the ships with the tonnage of less than 5,000 tons.

Accepting to cut the service fees, the Cai Mep – Thi Vai complex remains less competitive than the other regional ports. The number of international vessels going to/from the port complex has reportedly reduced from 16 to 7 shipments a week.

A lot of big investors have to give up the port projects after realizing that port projects gobble up a lot of money.

VinaCapital has announced the withdrawal from the port project it planned to develop with Dong Tam Group.

The Hoa Sen – Gemadept port was scheduled to be put into operation in the first phase with the capacity of 2 million tons per annum by 2010. The second phase would kick off right after that to be sure that 4 million tons of goods can go through the port every year. However, the plan cannot be implemented as scheduled.

NCDT