Cambodia’s ministry of public works and transport (MPWT) confirmed early this year that it was developing and modernising new container ports through a study with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Sihanoukville is Cambodia’s deep-sea port that will be developed to allow larger ships to dock, allowing more goods to pass through Cambodia. At present, the port can handle ships with a depth of more than 9 m, about 20 per cent of the ships in the area.

Lou Kim Chhun, chairman of the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port told a Cambodian newspaper that for the port to serve the Mekong region and the world, it needs to be expanded to a depth of about 17.5 metres.

The ministry said that in the first phase, the port will be expanded with a length of 350 metres and a depth of 14.5 metres, with construction starting this year with a loan of more than $200 million from the Japanese government.

When the deep-sea port is completed in 2025, it will allow ships with a capacity of more than 4,000 containers. At that time, about 93 per cent of Asian ships can dock in Cambodia, which would lower shipping costs by an estimated $200 per container.

Currently, the port can only accommodate only 18 per cent of ships in the Asia-Pacific region.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)