Gemadept Corporation, a joint venture between France's CMA-CMG and South Korea's Dealim-SAMWHA, has decided to extend the construction progress of this deep-water port, mainly resulting from poor business results, said Nguyen Thanh Tinh from Gemadept.

"The Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex has now seen a low throughput. Shipping lines have stopped sending their mother ships to the complex but sent feeder ships to transport goods to transshipment ports abroad," Tinh said.

Shipping lines sometimes charge unreasonable fees as Vietnamese firms normally export and import goods through short routes and transshipments ports instead of direct long routes, he added.

According to information given at the shareholder meeting of Gemadept last week, the shipping market is declining, and the volume of transported goods is not as high as expected.

This project was at first set for operation next year. However, with current conditions, the investor has planned to delay the operation of the project indefinitely until the market recovers.

After completion, Gemalink-Cai Mep Port will be the largest in the Cai Mep-Thi Vai complex. Having the first phase's total investment of US$300 million, the port can handle 1.2 million TEUs each year.