New northern Vietnam port opens

   A new container port in northern Vietnam opened last week with the call of a 2,020-TEU Mediterranean Shipping Co. vessel.
   The Cai Lan International Container Terminal (CICT) is around 60 miles from Hanoi, the largest city in northern Vietnam, and will have annual handling capacity of 520,000 TEUs when its four berths formally open in December.
   At full buildout, the terminal could eventually handle 1.2 million TEUs per year by 2016.
   CICT is a joint venture company between a local subsidiary of U.S.-based terminal operator SSA Marine and the Cai Lan Port Investment Consortium, whose shareholders are the state-run carrier Vinalines and Quang Ninh Port.
   The port can handle ships of up to 4,000 TEUs, and is aimed at serving not only the Hanoi region and northern Vietnam, but also parts of southwest China.
   The MSC vessel that called Aug. 31 is deployed on a weekly feeder service between Vietnam and China. – Eric Johnson