DP World's Asia boss has called on Ho Chi Minh City to speed up dredging of the Soai Rap River to allow large container ships to enter the Saigon Premier Container Terminal (SPCT), reported the Vietnam News Service.

    Peter Wong, DP World's senior vice president and managing director for the Asia Pacific region, has met authorities to seek the city's support.

    The dredging progress has slowed down the SPCT, Wong said, adding that large container ships could not enter the terminal because the passage is too shallow.

    Earlier, the city government promised to meet DP World's requirements for infrastructure, especially the North-South Highway and the Soai Rap River waterway leading to SPCT, he noted.

    The road nears completion while the second phase of the river dredging project is still underway. This waterway needs to reach the average depth of 11 or 12m for 30,000-DWT or even 50,000-DWT container vessels to travel to and from SPCT.

    Covering 40 hectares in Nha Be district, the two-phase SPCT needs total capital of US$305 million. During the first phase with 24 hectares, the container port will be able to handle 800,000 TEUs per year, and this capacity will be raised to 1.5 million TEUs in the second phase.

(Source:http://www.cargonewsasia.com)