Slowly dredge the channel, miss the opportunity to welcome the big ship.

As a rule, every 2 years, port enterprises must maintain and dredge the water in front of the port once. However, from 2018 until now, port enterprises in Cai Mep-Thi Vai area (CM-TV) have not been able to carry out this activity because of difficulties in procedures and finding places to dump waste sludge after dredging.

The situation of channeling is causing difficulties for ships with large draft lines to dock. In the photo: The ship docked at port to do cargo at TCIT Port.

Representative of SP-PSA International Port said that this enterprise is having difficulties in receiving agricultural products because it only exploits terminal 1 with the depth of -13m. Particularly for terminal 2, because the depth before the wharf is only -7m, it is not possible to bring the ship to transport goods. To exploit terminal 2, businesses have to wait for the tide to catch the ship with a draft from -13m and cannot receive 2 ships at the same time. Therefore, from the end of 2018 until now, there have been 10 agro-product ships from 55,000DWT to 80,000DWT that cannot access ports for cargo handling. Mr. Ho Luong Quan, General Director of SP-PSA Port said: If the channel is not cleared, SP-PSA continues to miss the opportunity to welcome the large tonnage vessel into the port. Depth of access and depth before berths play an important role in port operation, especially with deep-water ports in CM-TV. The report of the Southern Maritime Safety Assurance Corporation showed that, in the past 2 years, due to the dredging of the area before the wharf has not been implemented, the port area in front of the port at CM-TV is having the phenomenon of being filled with blocks. The estimated amount is nearly 1 million m3. If not dredged promptly, the port may take the opportunity to welcome large vessels. 

Mr. Nguyen Hong Phuc, Sales Manager of Tan Cang-Cai Mep International Port (TCIT) said that because the flow is getting more and more covered, ships with large draft have to choose the journey time based on tide to dock . This reduces the initiative in the ship's plan and reduces the port's ability to exploit, increasing the time of waiting ships at the port. Meanwhile, according to Mr. Bruno Gutton, CMA CMG Vietnam's General Director, from 2018 until now, there have been 12 trains of the company into CM-TV to change to China or wait for the tide to enter port because the flow and water in front of the berth are not enough depth. Currently, firms such as CMA CGM and MOL are building ships of more than 20,000 TEUs, targeting vessels of 24,000 TEUs. Therefore, the condition of the depth of the channel and the area before the wharf is not guaranteed to affect the attraction of large tonnage vessels into cargo handling. 

Loading and unloading containers at CMIT Port.

Mr. Le Ngoc Linh, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said, in 2011, the provincial People's Committee approved the plan of 2 locations for dredging mud in the area, including: offshore, 10km from Vung Tau cape (zone A) and tickling Lao Mo Nhat, TX. Phu My (Zone B). However, according to the Law on Natural Resources and the Environment of the Sea and Islands, the Law of Vietnam Sea, the dumping of maritime dredging materials licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment should still have to wait for comments from the Ministry. Reportedly, Vietnam Maritime Administration has a plan to dredge the channel, ensuring a safe depth for large vessels entering and leaving ports. However, the major obstacle is that there is no place to store millions of blocks of mud after dredging. Reportedly, from 2018, seaport enterprises have submitted applications for dredging and maintenance of wharves to functional agencies but the position of dumping mud has not been approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. During this time, the mother ships and large transport ships around the world were unable to dock, resulting in many cancellations to the port.

At the conference to meet the specialized voters "Enterprises in port number 5 in BR-VT province" at the end of April 2019, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha said: The dredging of water in front of berths at ports In the CM-TV area, it has not been implemented yet due to problems with sinking procedures. Before the Law on Marine Environment and Marine Resources, it is only necessary to assess the environmental impact, local authorities recommend where to dredge the dredging material, then carry out normal work. However, after the law was born, businesses have to do more complicated procedures on environmental impact assessment both where dredging and where to sink. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is studying to remove the direction for BR-VT to formulate a master plan for a submerged area for the whole province, assess the overall environmental impact for all ports at CM-TV. After that, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will assign the province and the GT-VT Ministry will choose the most suitable position to sink.