The port, with a total investment of US$3.6 billion, was trying to position itself as a hub with construction set to reach completion around 2020. However, reading between the lines of a report from the Vietnam News Agency this may have been a contributing factor toward the project’s suspension.
Nguyen Ngoc Quy of Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) told the news agency that beyond faults in pile design due to inadequate geological investigation, the port design has fluxed continually. This seems to have been down to changing goalposts as the project tried to keep up with the growing demands of the bigger ships already catered for in nearby Thi Vai – Cai Mep Port, pushing the plans from catering for 6,000 teu ships to allow in vessels with a 9,000 to 12,000 teu capacity – with an eye to extending this to those of 15,000 teu.
Further, according to a report of Khanh Hoa People’s Committee, the Van Phong Economic Zone’s local authority is struggling to come up with funds which is hindering development and making the business of luring investors more difficult.
Mr Quy added that, “It has been extremely difficult to mobilise capital for a huge project such as the Van Phong Port, current interest rates being so high.”
However, deputy director of the Van Phong Economic Zone Management Board Hoang Dinh Phi said that Vinalines were committed to ensuring sufficient capital for project completion.
Whilst the statement on the Vietnam Seaports Association (VPA) website cites the need for geological checks and the problems with raising capital, association officials say that the delay is only temporary.
“Van Phong is for the long-term – any decision (to suspend) is made on a temporary basis” stressed Mr Ho Kim Lan, secretary-general of the VPA when contacted by Port Strategy.
