HCMC – A proposal to include the Can Gio international transshipment port project in the detailed planning for Group-4 seaports has been submitted many times, but there is still no response from the Transport Ministry, said a representative of the Saigon Port Joint Stock Company.

The Saigon Port representative said at a recent seminar on the master plan for seaport development that the tentative site in Can Gio is convenient for developing a major international transshipment port.

Upon the complaint, Nguyen Xuan Sang, Deputy Minister of Transport, said that the prime minister had approved the master plan before the ministry received the proposal for Can Gio.

The ministry will now have to wait for approval from the prime minister over the detailed planning of seaport groups and will then consider inserting the Can Gio seaport proposal to the detailed planning.

Saigon Port had earlier sent the HCMC government a US$6-billion project to develop Can Gio international transshipment port with a capacity three times higher than that of Cat Lai Port.

As per the proposal, the port would be constructed with a three-kilometer wharf able to accommodate vessels of 20,000 TEUs. The port would have a designed capacity of six million TEUs of cargo, first as a transshipment point for the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

By 2040, the wharf would stretch 6.8 kilometers to accommodate vessels of 24,000 TEUs, and have annual cargo throughput of 18 million TEUs.

Saigon Port and MSC will continue to present the document to ministries seeking approval from the Government.

With a prime location at the Cai Mep rivermouth in close proximity to international maritime routes, Can Gio Port can accommodate large vessels, increase competitiveness with regional countries and boost the city’s economy, according to Saigon Port.