Soai Rap River Channel News

In another landmark event,the biggest ever vessel to call at the DP World operated Saigon Premier Container Terminal (SPCT) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, arrived this week. The NYK owned Northern Genius, with a nominal TEU (twenty foot equivalent container unit) capacity of 4,300 and dwt of 54,000 sailed up the 54kms new Soai Rap River channel following its opening earlier this year. The Soai Rap channel has made SPCT the deepest Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) port, halving steaming time to two hours, saving on pilotage and bunker fuel. With a draft of 9.5 metres and a tidal rise of up to 3.4 meters, the channel has doubled the size of vessels that can access SPCT, allowing panamax vessels such as Northern Genius to safely berth just 15kms from the city.