According to the Master Plan for the Development of Vietnam's Seaport System for the 2021-2030 Period, with a Vision to 2050, approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1579/QD-TTg dated September 22, 2021, Nghi Son Port is a Type I port and is potentially planned to become a Special Port (IA). Photo: Thanh Thuy
Upstream...
It is not until now, when the seaport system has been invested, built and developed as it is today, that Nghi Son has been known as an area with great potential and advantages for developing maritime transport and important logistics of Thanh Hoa province and the entire North Central region. Going upstream along the North Central coast from the 10th to the 19th century, all recorded the imprint of commercial ports such as Cua Bang and Bien Son, which are located in the Nghi Son sea area today.
The port of Cua Bang was formed in the space of the sea mouth/river mouth of Lach Bang, on the terrain of "water meeting". Around the middle of the 16th century, Cua Bang was a place where Portuguese merchants came and went, combining trade and missionary work. In the 17th century, Western merchants passed through the Cua Bang area more frequently. Alexandre de Rhodes recounted: "Before our ship reached the shore, we saw a large crowd of people gathering to see the goods on board." From Cua Bang, ships could follow the river to Thang Long Citadel. Cua Bang existed as a foreign gateway during the 16th - 17th centuries. After that, the activities of this port declined and were rarely mentioned in documents.
Compared to Bang port, Bien Son commercial port has a stronger mark and more bustling commercial activities. The combination of island and mainland creates a key position of Bien Son commercial port (now Nghi Son island commune, part of Nghi Son Economic Zone (KKTNS), Nghi Son town) with the advantage of receiving large-tonnage ocean-going ships, creating a "throat" position on the coastal trade route. Bien Son commercial port not only plays an important role in foreign trade activities but also in the financial resources of the Le - Trinh dynasty. All trading ships, whether going to Thanh Hoa, Nghe An provinces or from here to the North during this period, had to stop to pay fees. Large ships had a fee of about 1.5 rixdale (European currency at that time) with gifts; other types of ships depended on the rate. The annual revenue of this control station was certainly not less than 1 million rixdale, an amount equivalent to 200,000 people paying poll tax. It was also the activities of this patrol that made Western traders consider this the most notable island in the Gulf of Tonkin...
Reviewing the role and position of the commercial ports of Bang and Bien Son in Nghi Son town today, we can see that this land has had many potentials and advantages since ancient times and has partly promoted those potentials and advantages to promote trading activities and tax collection.
Nghi Son seaport – the “lever” of Thanh Hoa’s marine economy and the North Central region
In the current context, with the attention and investment of the Central Government and the province, the potential and advantages of maritime transport in Nghi Son sea area are increasingly exploited and promoted effectively. Exceeding all planning forecasts, Nghi Son Seaport is gradually becoming an important logistics center of the North Central region.
In recent times, many important connecting traffic routes, port areas, anchorage and transshipment areas, and shipping channels at Nghi Son Seaport have become increasingly synchronized and completed. Nghi Son Seaport currently has 51 berths and berth areas, of which 27/51 berths and berth areas have been put into operation, including 15 general ports capable of receiving ships with a capacity of up to 70,000 tons and 12 specialized ports serving the operations of key projects such as Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Plant, Nghi Son Thermal Power Center, and Nghi Son Cement Plant. The cargo handling capacity has reached over 75 million tons/year. In addition, 4 anchorage and transshipment points have been put into operation to serve Nghi Son 2 Thermal Power Plant; there is 1 SPM floating buoy berth of Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Plant that can receive ships with a capacity of up to 320,000 tons; 8/10 container ports have been approved for investment, of which container port No. 3 of Long Son Company Limited is urgently under construction.
Along with the attention to arranging and attracting investment resources, gradually completing the infrastructure, the Central Government and Thanh Hoa province have issued many mechanisms and policies to attract shipping companies, promoting import and export activities at Nghi Son seaport. These policies and guidelines are the driving force to continue to focus on mobilizing resources to complete the infrastructure of Nghi Son seaport system, deploy solutions to increase the quantity and output of import and export goods through the port, increase the budget revenue for the province, and create jobs for many local workers.
Since the first ship arrived in 2002, import and export activities through Nghi Son Port have increasingly flourished, making an important contribution to the State budget revenue in Thanh Hoa province. The total volume of goods through Nghi Son Seaport from 2021 to present has reached 164.6 million tons, an average of over 41 million tons/year. The main import and export items include: wood chips, paving stones, cement, clinker, crude oil, petrochemical products, metallurgical products, etc. The proportion of goods through Nghi Son Port accounts for about 50% of the total volume of goods through Group 2 of seaports (equal to both Nghe An and Ha Tinh seaports).
In particular, Nghi Son Port has attracted 2 international container shipping lines, including: CMA - CGM Vietnam Joint Stock Company (started operating from May 2019) and VIMC Shipping Company (operating from December 2022); 1 domestic container shipping line is Hai An Agency and Logistics Company Limited, operating from November 2023. The total import and export turnover of goods through Nghi Son Port from 2021 to present reached about 34.73 billion USD; State budget revenue reached 67,105 billion VND, of which State budget revenue in 2024 reached 19,328 billion VND. It is known that around the end of June, MACSTAR Group Joint Stock Company will open the Hai Phong - Nghi Son route to transship international container goods with a density of 2 trips/week; expected to increase to 5-6 trips/week by 2026.
Identify "bottlenecks", strongly promote resources
Considered one of the fastest growing seaports in the country with a large level of investment and stimulus, import and export activities through Nghi Son Port are not commensurate with its potential and expectations.
The frequency of trips is still low (about 10 days/trip for international ships; 7 days/trip for domestic ships), the routes are not diversified, leading to the transportation of goods through many ports having to be transited, resulting in additional costs compared to ships that do not transit; there is a lack of diversity in export and import goods; mainly export goods, very limited import goods, leading to shipping lines having to import empty containers, resulting in many costs, sea freight rates and service costs at the port are still high. Infrastructure, machinery, equipment, and warehouses in the port area have not been invested synchronously because Nghi Son seaport does not have a dedicated container port put into operation. There are no investors in the field of logistics services, road transport services for transporting container goods; there are no large warehouses for storing and preserving goods in the NSK and in the province, leading to no place to gather goods, affecting the circulation of goods...
Exporting goods by container through Nghi Son Port.
According to the Master Plan for the Development of Vietnam's Seaport System for the 2021-2030 Period, with a Vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1579/QD-TTg dated September 22, 2021, Nghi Son Port is a Type I port and is potentially planned to become a special port (IA); playing an important role in the development strategy of the NSZ and industrial parks of Thanh Hoa province, being a hub for goods trading, connecting Northern Laos, Northeast Thailand, and Thanh Hoa's neighboring areas with national and international shipping routes. In response to the requirements of the new development period, in order to promote import and export activities through Nghi Son Port, and most effectively promote the potentials, advantages, mechanisms, and "stimulus" policies, Thanh Hoa province needs to focus on drastically and synchronously implementing groups of tasks and solutions.
In particular, the province needs to focus on reviewing and completing the detailed planning of the Nghi Son seaport system, with priority given to expanding container terminals, warehouses, cargo loading and unloading yards; planning resettlement areas to serve the implementation of seaport investment projects and port logistics. Attracting and allocating resources to accelerate the progress of traffic infrastructure projects connecting the NSKZ to industrial parks, industrial clusters, and the province's dynamic economic centers; accelerating seaport infrastructure projects, especially container terminals and dredging shipping channels to ensure good reception and service for vehicles entering and leaving the port.
Strengthening the propaganda of the policies of the Central Government and the province to attract enterprises to import and export goods through Nghi Son Port; at the same time, promoting the work of calling for and attracting enterprises and investors to build ICD dry ports, warehouse systems, promoting the development of regional logistics centers in the NSK and provincial logistics zones in key economic zones in the province.
Timely support and provide information to shipping lines and import-export businesses to research and learn about transporting goods through Nghi Son Seaport, creating connections between units.
Continue to coordinate with relevant units, urge port investors to speed up investment in infrastructure, machinery, equipment, to meet the needs of transporting and unloading goods...
Thanh Thuy
*The article uses materials from the book "North Central Coastal Commercial Ports in the 10th-19th Centuries" (2021, MaiHaBooks in association with The Gioi Publishing House published) by author Nguyen Van Chuyen.
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nang-tam-cang-bien-nghi-son-tao-da-but-toc-250516.htm
Comment (0)