VOV.VN - The Haiphong International Container Terminal (HICT) developed by Saigon Newport Corporation has welcomed the largest container ship to date.

Wan Hai 805 docks at the HICT.

The cargo ship Wan Hai 805, designed with a carrying capacity of some 132,000 tons, anchored at the northern port on May 7. The welcoming of container ship makes the HICT one of the 20 largest ports worldwide.

It provides direct services from the northern region of Vietnam to the west coast of the US, thus helping to slash freight time from 25 to 19 days in comparison with previous trans-shipments at overseas ports.

Nguyen Van Cong, Vice Minister of Transport, said that the handling of giant container line like Wan Hai 805 demonstrated great capacity of the HICT and marked an important milestone in the development of deep-water port system Vietnam in general. This is expected to give a boost to the attraction of foreign direct investment inflows.

“We set high hopes on the welcoming of 160,000 ton vessels in the near future”, the vice minister added.

The ship is owned by a joint venture between Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines, China’s COSCO Shipping, and Singapore’s Pacific International Lines, local media reported.

The HICT weekly operates six service routes which connect it to the Pacific region, India, and other countries in Asia.

Haiphong International Container Terminal Co., Ltd is a joint venture between the Saigon Newport Corporation (51 per cent of the shareholding), MITSUI O.S.K Lines Ltd. (17.5 per cent of the shareholding), Wan Hai Lines Ltd. (16.5 per cent), and Itochu Group (15 per cent), according to the HICT website.