Cai Mep Proves Its Readiness for Bigger Ships

Vietnam’s Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT), owned by APM Terminals, welcomed the 14,000 TEU m/v CSCL Star on October 29, 2015, following dredging works that enabled it to receive bigger vessels.

The maiden visit of the ultra large container vessel (ULCV) of 157,000 DWT, deployed in the Ocean 3 Alliance, marked the first Vietnam/Northern Europe direct service.

Notably, within the last week, two feeder services have also started to call at CMIT to connect both the local Vietnamese export cargo and the international export cargo from Thailand and Cambodia, all transshipped through CMIT.

“This operation fits well into the vision of CMIT to be the first container hub port for domestic and international transshipment. The transshipment operation is also supported by the Vietnamese Government, as Vietnam positions itself within the Cai Mep deep-water container port group to best serve the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement which was agreed to in September,” said Robert Hambleton, General Director, CMIT.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Transport, Vinamarine and the VMS have all funded the Cai Mep channel maintenance dredging. This recent work has brought the channel depth down to 13.2 metres at low water, in time to receive the CSCL Star.

“Collectively, the Ministry of Transport, Vinamarine and CMIT have created a new and distinctive advantage for the Cai Mep deep water port group, now capable of handling the 14,000 TEU ULCV; a capability previously reserved for the ASEAN hubs in Singapore and Malaysia,” Nguyen Xuan Ky, CMIT Deputy General Director, commented.

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