• Vietnam's Nha Trang Shipyard Wins US$134 MLN Contracts
  From Vietnam News Agency

Nha Trang Shipyard of Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (VINASHIN) has won two contracts to build four new cargo ships for companies in Norway and Laos. Among the contracts with Laos LS Tourism and Transport Company is worth the US$63 million for two ships of 20,000 and 22,500 DWT. The first 20,000 DWT ship is expected to be delivered in late 2008 and the second one will be handed over in the second quarter of 2009. The other contract is signed with Norway's Calypso Group to build two ships with a total valued of US$71 million from now to 2010.

• Seaports: good destinations for foreign investment now
  From VietnamNet Bridge
  

The government of Vietnam has been calling for foreign investment in domestic seaport system development, and foreign investors have responded enthusiastically.
Seaports in Vietnam in deficiency or abundance?

Demand exceeds supply
Under the seaport development strategy by 2010, the seaport system is now capable of passing 100mil tonnes of goods. However, the actual volume of goods going through the ports has far exceeded the forecast level. In 2006, the figure reached 154,498 mil tonnes, an increase of 11.2% over 2005. In fact, the error in forecasting was quickly realised and the overloading of Vietnam’s seaports was predicted. In December 2002, JICA estimated that the total volume of dry goods going though the ports in the southern key economic zone would be 50.13mil tonnes by 2010, including 2.27mil TEUs of container goods. Meanwhile, in 2005, the volume of goods going through the ports in HCM City alone (Saigon, Tan Cang, Ben nghe, VICT and Phuoc Long) reached 35mil TEUs, including 2.2mil TEUs of container goods. The seaport development programme for the southern key economic zone released in 2005 forecast that the total volume of dry goods going though the regional ports would reach 52.9mil tonnes by 2010 (not including liquid goods and passengers). In 2005, the actual volume of goods going through HCM City’s main ports was 35mil tonnes, including 2.2mil TEUs of container goods. The figure would have been much higher if counting the goods going through other smaller ports in the region.Experts said that with the expected annual growth rate of 15%, the total demand of put-through goods would be 70-80mil tonnes by 2010 for the southern key economic zone. As such, the zone alone will be overloaded by 20-30mil tonnes, and the situation will be more severe in 2007-2010, badly affecting the national economy, especially exports.

Big projects kick off
In a recent workshop on seaport development, Tan Hua Joo, Managing Director of APL Vietnam, said that if the current growth rate of exports was maintained, Vietnam would need some $5bil to build new and upgrade existing seaports. In fact, foreign investment capital has been tapped into seaports since the second half of 2006, when a series of foreign invested projects kicked off. In early August 2006, HCM City granted a licence to Saigon Central Container Port Company SPCT, the joint venture between Britain’s P&O Ports Saigon Holding Ltd and Tan Thuan Industrial Development Company IPC. The legal entity will spend $249mil to develop the internationally standardised container port, which has the harbour length of 950 m, and expected capacity of 1.5mil TEUs.Meanwhile, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that many other seaport projects were under implementation. These include the$187mil joint venture between Denmark’s Maersk A/S, Saigon Port and Singapore Port, which will develop the upstream port of Cai Mep-Thi Vai. If the port can be put into operation in 2010 as initially planned, the new port with two piers will have the handling capacity of 950,000 TEUs a year. A joint venture between Saigon Port and Singapore Port will build and develop a downstream port, Cai Mep-Thi Vai, scheduled to be operational in 2010. Japan’s Sumitomo plans to build the Van Phong General Economic Zone with the total investment capital of more than $600mil. The main part of the project is a regional container port, which will be the impetus for the development of nearby urban and tourism areas. The list of big investment projects in Vietnam worth over $50bil includes ones on seaport development, and investors of seaport projects always make strong commitments on the construction process.The Vietnam Shipping Lines Vinalines has been assigned by the government to be the main domestic investor in seaport projects. However, the corporation has also decided to cooperate with foreign partners to develop seaport projects. Vinalines has signed an MOU with US-based SSA marine on building wharfs No 2,3,4 in Cai Lan port in Quang Ninh province with the total capital of $100mil.
Vinalines is also considering calling for international cooperation, when preparing to implement projects on building the international transit port of Van Phong, capable of receiving 10-12,0000 container ships, and Lach Huyen deep water port, capable of receiving 60-80,000 tonne ships. Most recently, in January 2007, Credit Suisse agreed to lend Vinalines $1bil to develop its fleet and build ports. The government has also decided to reserve $500mil out of the $1bil worth of international bonds to be raised this year’s end to build ports and develop its fleet.Investors have all committed to speeding up the construction processes of the projects, and making thorough preparations for the projects, which shows that they are well aware of the opportunities and the attractiveness of investment in Vietnam’s seaports.

• SP-PSA port breaks ground in Vung Tau, Viet Nam
  From www.porttechnology.org

SP-PSA International Port (SP-PSA) held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first container terminal in Vietnam today. Attended by over 100 dignitaries from the government and business sectors, the ceremony marks the official start of construction of SP-PSA’s new terminal in the Vung Tau province.
The ceremony was officiated by Dr Tran Doan Tho, Vice Minister of Transport, Vietnam, and Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Singapore’s Minister of State for Finance and Transport. Among the guests present at this historic event were Mr Tran Minh Sanh, Chairman of People’s Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, Mr Mai Van Phuc, General Director of Vinalines, Mr Le Cong Minh, General Director of Saigon Port and Chairman of SP-PSA, Mr Eddie Teh, Deputy Group Chairman, PSA International Pte Ltd, and other prominent members of the local maritime, shipping and business communities.
"I am delighted that PSA, Saigon Port and Vinalines are jointly developing this world class terminal. Singapore is committed to furthering strong bilateral cooperation with Vietnam, including in the area of port and logistics. This port, which facilitates greater trade exchanges and contributes to the infrastructural development of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau region, is a tangible outcome of our strong bilateral cooperation." said Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Minister of State for Finance and Transport,Singapore.
Said Dr Tran Doan Tho, Vice Minister of Transport, Vietnam, “Vietnam and Singapore have established a close friendly relationship for many years. Singapore is always one of the countries leading in terms of the number of qualified projects invested in Vietnam. This project SP-PSA proves further the cooperation relationship between the two nations and marks a new and important change in the field of infrastructure investment of seaport in Vietnam. I believe that this project as a modern container terminal of the international gateway port will actively contribute to the Southern Focal Economic Area in general and Ba Ria-Vung Tau in particular.”
“As one of the key partners in this milestone project, we are committed to working with PSA and Saigon Port to build SP-PSA into one of the leading container ports in this region.Vinalines is optimistic of the growth prospects for SP-PSA and we are happy to be able to participate in its development”, said Mr Mai Van Phuc, General Director of Vinalines. Said Mr Le Cong Minh, General Director of Saigon Port and Chairman of SP-PSA, “Saigon Port is pleased to partner PSA and Vinalines to build the SP-PSA terminal in Vung Tau. In the short time that we have worked together, we have achieved much and the project has moved very quickly indeed. I am sure that today’s ground breaking ceremony is just one of many more good things to come for SP-PSA, Vung Tau and Vietnam.”
Mr Eddie Teh, Deputy Group Chairman, PSA International Pte Ltd, said, “Today, we and our distinguished partners set out to realize our vision to develop SP-PSA into a world-class port facility to cater to the fast growing container traffic in Vietnam. The combination of PSA’s extensive global port network and management expertise together with Vinalines’ and Saigon Port’s intimate knowledge of the shipping and transportation environment in Vietnam will be a major catalyst to the success of this project in Vietnam. We are delighted to have this opportunity to work together with our distinguished partners in our first port investment in Vietnam.”
SP-PSA is a joint venture between Saigon Port, Vinalines and PSA Vietnam Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PSA International Pte Ltd (PSAI). On 16 July 2007, SP-PSA signed a construction contract with Penta Ocean Construction for the construction of Phase 1 of the terminal.
Strategically located near the mouth of the Cai Mep-Thi Vai river, SP-PSA is well positioned to serve the fast growing container traffic of Vietnam and become a major hub for ASEAN. The terminal will be developed in two phases, with the first one becoming operational in 2009. When both phases are fully completed, SP-PSA will have a projected annual capacity of over two million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers.