Urgent construction of Vung Tau international passenger port

Vung Tau International Passenger Port will contribute to maintaining Ho Chi Minh City's position on the cruise tourism map in the region.

The cruise tourism market is growing rapidly. However, the southern region is facing great pressure as there are no more specialized ports of international standards to accommodate large passenger ships.

Growing demand

Royal Caribbean Group, one of the world's largest cruise lines, has organized 80 cruises to Vietnam in 2024 and is expected to increase to 100 cruises in 2025. With the participation of major cruise lines, the demand for international cruise ships is increasing rapidly, but the existing seaport system has not yet met the demand.

The area reported by consulting units is expected to form an international passenger port in Vung Tau.

Meanwhile, Vung Tau International Passenger Port, the only project planned specifically for passenger ships, has yet to be built. In order to promptly meet the requirements of shipping lines, the authorities have been forced to temporarily arrange passenger ships to dock at some cargo terminals in the Cai Mep - Thi Vai area. This flexible solution maintains international passenger reception activities but also creates great pressure on safety, functionality and operation.

According to statistics, from 2018 to present, 9 ports in Cai Mep - Thi Vai port cluster have received 277 large passenger ships with a total capacity of 168,666 GT. All ships are guaranteed to be safe, with no maritime incidents. However, the use of cargo ports to receive passenger ships is only temporary and does not meet long-term technical standards.

According to the Vietnam Maritime Administration, the Cai Mep - Thi Vai area currently has many ports that meet the requirements of receiving large international passenger ships, including: Thi Vai general port, Thi Vai international port, TCTT port, SSIT, TCIT, PTSC Phu My, SP-PSA and SITV... However, in terms of planning, the ports in this area have not yet been officially added the function of exploiting passenger ships. Therefore, the management agency has requested to temporarily stop receiving international passenger ships at these ports in recent times.

If this situation continues, Ho Chi Minh City and the southern region will no longer have a place to receive large passenger ships. Shipping lines will be forced to remove Vietnam from their Asian schedules, causing great damage to the tourism industry. Because each cruise ship can carry 3,000 - 6,000 passengers; losing a few dozen cruises each year means losing hundreds of thousands of tourists, sharply reducing the revenue and competitiveness of the tourism industry.

Faced with this pressure, the Ministry of Construction has approved the temporary reception of 9 ports in the Cai Mep - Thi Vai port cluster until June 30, 2026. This is a solution to maintain cruise tourism activities while waiting for the implementation of a dedicated port.

Quick realization

Currently, the Cai Mep - Thi Vai area welcomes hundreds of international passenger ships each year, bringing tens of thousands of tourists to the port. The rapid increase in the number in the past 3 years shows the strong attraction of this area on the cruise tourism map. Safe navigation, the ability to receive large tonnage ships and fast clearance times are the advantages that make this place an ideal stopover for many international shipping lines.

However, the port cluster still lacks a dedicated berth for large passenger ships. The space for picking up and dropping off passengers is not synchronized, and the services, commerce and entertainment around the port are limited, unable to create a complete experience, limiting the length of stay and spending of tourists. The lack of a dedicated passenger port causes the locality to miss the opportunity to develop a large-scale cruise tourism ecosystem, which is a model that is bringing in sustainable revenue.

The Ministry of Construction has just approved the detailed planning for the development of land and seaport areas in Ba Ria - Vung Tau for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. The most important highlight is to clearly define the location, scale and nature of Vung Tau international passenger port - a project expected to become the gateway to receive the largest cruise ships in the Southern region.

According to the approval decision, the port includes 1 main berth and 2 passenger wharves with a total length of 840 m, capable of receiving passenger ships of up to 225,000 GT - the largest group of cruise ships in the world today. The designed capacity reaches 1.39 - 1.5 million passengers/year, ensuring to meet the strong growth demand of the international cruise market in the coming decades.

The project is located in the area adjacent to the Bai Truoc cable car station (Vung Tau ward), conveniently connecting to accommodation, shopping centers and tourist attractions. This is a location that experts consider "sufficient" to develop a modern international passenger port - commercial - entertainment complex.

Previously, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province (old) held many meetings to hear reports on 11 design options with straight or curved bridges, aiming at coastal architectural highlights. The total investment is expected to range from 1,333 billion to more than 8,000 billion VND depending on the option. Although it has been included in the planning for many years, Vung Tau international passenger port has not been able to be implemented for many different reasons. Meanwhile, the global cruise market is growing beyond forecasts and the southern region has no ports qualified to receive new generation ships.

The early realization of the project will not only help maintain the ability to receive international passenger ships but also create a strong boost for the economy - services - tourism, bring sustainable revenue, enhance the destination brand and open up opportunities to welcome hundreds of thousands of international tourists each year.

According to the planning, the seaport area of ​​Ba Ria - Vung Tau (old) includes 8 main wharves: Thi Vai, Cai Mep, Long Son, Song Dinh, Sao Mai - Ben Dinh, Vung Tau international passenger port, Con Dao port and offshore oil and gas port system; buoy wharves, transshipment areas and anchorage areas, storm shelters.

The target by 2030 is that the total cargo throughput will reach 215 - 236.9 million tons (of which containers will reach 18.25 million TEUs) and passengers will reach 2.67 million to 2.89 million. The port system is expected to have 60 wharves with 117 - 123 wharfs, with a total length of more than 30 km, many of which can accommodate ships with a capacity of up to 250,000 tons.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/cap-thiet-xay-cang-khach-quoc-te-vung-tau-196251201215030284.htm