The Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park in the Nha Be District of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is slated for conversion into a port-based special economic zone.
As outlined in the city’s development plan, intermodal connections leading to the port area will be constructed to expand the area’s cargo capacity in the long term.
These intermodal links will include metro lines, ring roads, and expressways to facilitate the transport of cargo to and from Hiep Phuoc Port. The city’s authorities envision some 200 million to 250 million tonnes of cargo being handled at the port by 2020, according to local reports.
The area is located along the Soai Rap river, which is currently in the final stages of dredging and is scheduled to open to traffic by the end of June.
Once completed, the dredging work will have increased the river’s depth to 11.5 meters to allow 50,000 dwt vessels to reach the Hiep Phuoc port complex, helping cut travel distance from the East Sea to Ho Chi Minh City by about 30 kilometers.
In Malaysia, the Port Klang Authority (PKA) is likewise intent on deepening the south channel entrance at Pintu Gedong in Port Klang to pave access to the country’s most prominent port by larger ships.
The dredging project will deepen the channel from the current depth of 16.5 meters to 18 meters to accommodate 24/7 the ultra-large container ships with capacity of more than 18,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs). Dredging work is scheduled to be completed by April 2015.
“With more shipping lines opting for vessels with larger carrying capacity on the basis of economies of scale, ports are tasked with ensuring that adequate infrastructure is available so as not to be left out when lines opt for their ports of call,” said David Padman, general manager of PKA.
According to the national news agency Bernama, Port Klang recorded a 3.5 percent annual growth last year, with nearly 10.3 million TEUs handled.
