Although it is one of the most modern ports in Vietnam, Da Nang Port is operating at less than half its capacity, according to its director.

Da Nang Port.

Nguyen Thu, Da Nang Port general director, said the port had received 1.7mil tonnes of goods in the first nine months of the year, short of its targeted 2.5mil tonnes.

Da Nang Port comprises Tien Sa and Song Han ports in Da Nang City. The facility has the capacity to handle five million tonnes of commodities a year and can accommodate ships weighing up to 40,000 tonnes.

Tien Sa Port has recently received a US$22mil upgrade. Last year, Da Nang Port only handled 2.3mil tonnes of incoming and outgoing goods, just below half of its capacity.

According to experts, although the city of Da Nang has an advantageous location at the end of the East-West Economic Corridor running through central Vietnam, central Laos and north-eastern Thailand, its port has been unable to attract shipments from outside the city because neighbouring provinces already have their own ports.

The existence of several other ports in the central provinces was one of the reasons why the quantity of goods shipped through Da Nang Port was so low, Thu said.

The central region is served by seven other ports: Chan May and Thuan An in Thia Thien - Hue Province, Ky Ha in Quang Nam Province, Dung Quoc and Sa Ky in Quang Ngai Province, Gianh in Quang Binh Province and Cuu Viet in Quang Tri Province.

Da Nang Port could not truly be considered an international port until it established a quality-inspection centre to stamp the goods before they left the port, Thu said.

He pointed out that certain enterprises, such as seafood processing companies, could not export their goods via the port without a verification of product quality.

He said that after transporting incoming goods to Da Nang Port, container vessels often left without outgoing goods, a condition which discouraged international shipping agencies from docking their vessels there.

(Source: Viet Nam News)