PHNOM PENH's US$28 million container terminal is not expected to reach its 150,000 TEU annual capacity because of its meager 4.5-metre depth and the 300 kilometres ships must go to reach the sea at Ho Chi Minh City.
This year's throughput target is 110,000 TEU at the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP), and so far it has handled 70,000 TEU. The old terminal, which handled 95,333 TEU in 2012, is 30 kilometres away, and is now closed because customs officers refused to work at two ports simultaneously.
Despite PPAP's 300-metre quay, channel depth restricts use to 130-TEU barges at the Mekong River facility, reports The Hindu's Business Line, adding that the Vietnam section of the river is also plagued with shallows.
In spite of the transfer of the entire 184,000 tonnes of containerised cargo and the export of rice, sugarcane and tapioca from the old terminal to the new, the facility faces an uncertain future.
PPAP blames the weak global economy and strained political ties with Vietnam, which the Cambodian port depends for its survival.
"We would like to improve the navigability of the river to allow larger vessels to come to our port, but we cannot do it unless the Vietnamese do the same in their portion of the river and we've no knowledge of what they are doing or if they are doing anything at all," said deputy PPAP director Sam Olan.
Phnom Penh hopes to dredge to seven metres and has identified three stages that will remove five million cubic metres of river bed, but that won't happen unless Vietnamese authorities show a willingness to do the same.
Another hindrance is the lack of rail connectivity to the LM17 terminal, so cargo is now trucked. "We've no plans for rail connectivity in the near future as we intend to construct new ring roads to facilitate smoother cargo movement by road to the port," Mr Olan said.
Other problems include the government requirement that every container is screened at a cost of US$80, unlike at major container ports worldwide whose charges are far less.
The lack of an inland container depot also hurts. About nine hectares had been acquired to set up a depot near the old terminal, but the plan was shelved when the terminal closed. PPAP co-operates with private firms such as Pan Continental Freight and Mekong Sentosa Logistics to operate warehouses.
PORTS
29 August 2013 - 21:21
Phnom Penh box terminal's shallows, poor connectivity impedes success
PHNOM PENH's US$28 million container terminal is not expected to reach its 150,000 TEU annual capacity because of its meager 4.5-metre depth and the 300 kilometres ships must go to reach the sea at Ho Chi Minh City.
PORTS
29 August 2013 - 21:21
Phnom Penh box terminal's shallows, poor connectivity impedes success
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