Cua Lo Port is located in a good location in the North Central region, convenient for international trade, especially transiting goods to Laos and Northeastern Thailand.

A corner of Cua Lo port

However, in an interview with GTVT Magazine, Mr. Bui Kieu Hung, General Director of Nghe Tinh Port Joint Stock Company, said that currently, SITC and some other shipping lines are still at the market research level, there is nothing certain for this Chinese shipping line and some other lines to open regular routes to Cua Lo port. The reason lies in considering the source of goods. According to Mr. Hung, the characteristic of Cua Lo port is mainly export goods, there is no return goods, so the source of empty containers returning to the port is facing many difficulties. But the key is still the source of goods, because the source of goods at Cua Lo port is irregular and temporary. In the past 3 years, the amount of container goods passing through the port has been small and unstable. "Hopefully in the next few years, VSIP Nghe An industrial park will be filled, production and business activities will be vibrant again, and there will be abundant goods, so we can expect goods to pass through the port," Mr. Hung said, adding that because of the lack of abundant goods, many businesses choose to transport goods by road to Hai Phong to load onto mother ships, taking the initiative in time, instead of waiting for trips at Cua Lo port. Previously, when Nghe An approved a policy to support shipping lines and cargo owners, Nghe Tinh Port Joint Stock Company also sent a document to customers, at the same time, connecting shipping lines and cargo owners with the Department of Industry and Trade, working with businesses and cargo owners. "There are textile and garment businesses that, to ensure orders according to the contract, go by road to Hai Phong, load goods onto mother ships instead of waiting a whole week for a ship to enter Cua Lo port," Mr. Hung gave an example, not to mention that the source of customers is also dispersed and competed by a number of general ports and private ports nearby.

The channel and depth of Cua Lo port affect the entry of ships to load and unload cargo.

In addition to the factor of proactive and abundant cargo sources, the issue of natural conditions, channels and port depth also affects the entry of ships to load cargo. Accordingly, the seaport system in Nghe An is located in an open bay area, while each year this area receives an average of about 5 storms and many Northeast monsoons, thereby affecting the plan of ships coming to load cargo at the port. Because there is no storm shelter for large ships, every time a storm comes, ships have to leave the port to take shelter from the storm hundreds of nautical miles away from the port, causing costs and time for shipping lines and businesses. Next is the issue of maritime channels. The channels in and out of Cua Lo and Ben Thuy ports are often silted, making it difficult for ships to enter and exit, so dredging costs must be spent every year. According to the leader of Nghe Tinh Port Joint Stock Company, on average every 2 years, Cua Lo channel must be dredged to ensure a depth of - 7.2m. However, the procedures, especially the environmental impact assessment procedures, the dredged waste dumping area often take a lot of time, also affecting the attraction of shipping lines. Not to mention, the turning radius of the channel is 220m, so it can only receive small tonnage ships. At the same time, the inability to receive large tonnage ships to load cargo like ports in the region makes the freight rates at Nghe An ports tend to be higher, not having a competitive advantage compared to ports in Nghi Son (Thanh Hoa) and Vung Ang - Son Duong (Ha Tinh). Not to mention, at Nghe An seaports, the port back area is often quite narrow, the connecting traffic system is not synchronized. For these reasons, although Nghe An province has policies to support shipping lines transporting international and domestic containers; supporting businesses with export and import goods transported by container to and from Cua Lo port (from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025), many shipping lines are not interested in coming to Cua Lo port. Because even when receiving support (from 100 million - 300 million VND/trip, depending on the route, frequency and 600,000 VND/1 20-foot container; 1 million VND/1 40-foot container to support businesses with export and import goods to/from Cua Lo port) but businesses still suffer losses, they will certainly not do business at the port. "For shipping lines, they do not care about the data provided by the port, but they carefully research the market, goods sources and in fact they have gone to Nghe An to survey many times. Through discussions, representatives of shipping lines said that the biggest problem is the source of goods. If the cargo source is stable and always has enough trips, even without the province's support policy, they will open a route to/from Cua Lo port. Along with that is the depth of the channel to attract large tonnage ships. To achieve a depth of -9 to 9.5m, we will have to wait until after 2024 when the second phase of dredging is implemented," Mr. Hung said, adding that among the Company's ports, currently, berths 1 and 2 of Cua Lo port can only accommodate ships up to 15,000 tons with reduced load; berths 3 and 4 can accommodate ships up to 25,000 tons with reduced load.

GTVT Magazine