Japan provides US $209 million loan to expand Sihanoukville deep-water seaport
Currently, the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port is the only deep-water seaport in the country and has been recognized as a major trading gateway to help boost national economic growth. It operates on 125 hectares of land and is equipped with high-tech infrastructures to help support all kinds of cargo handling. Over the last five years, the number of containers has grown by an average of 11% annually. Cambodia and Japan have recently discussed the development of new deep container ports in Sihanoukville, aiming to expand economic activities between the two nations. The project was raised for discussion during the two-day official visit of the Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Motegi Toshimitsu in Cambodia on August 21-22nd. According to Deputy Director-General at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port Thay Rithy, Cambodia is actively expanding the Sihanoukville deep seaport, and the project is being implemented phase by phase. The detailed design of the Sihanoukville new Sihanoukville deep-sea port terminal has been completed, with the construction of Phase I scheduled to begin 2021 and is expected to be completed by 2024, one year later in than the original plan. Deputy General Director of Sihanoukville Autonomous Port Thay Rithy said that the project’s detailed design has been completed, and the process of selecting a construction company is now underway. “The construction process of the first phase of the deep-sea port has begun with the design stage. Now the design has been complete, so we are entering the stage of constructor selection. Given this, we expect that construction will begin in 2021 and is scheduled to be completed by 2024,” said Mr. Rithy. The new terminal will be 14.5m deep with 350m of frontage. Upon completion, Sihanoukville seaport will be able to receive vessels of more than 60,000 tons or equal to about 93% of all vessels in Asia-Pacific. Mr. Thay also added that the response team is also currently studying Phases II and III, aiming to increase the port capacity to handle to super large ships by 2027 or 2028. “In Phase II, we plan to build a 410m long and 16m deep port. While in Phase III, we will expand the port to be 440m long and 17.5m deep,” he said. This project is being funded with US$209 million from the Japanese government, which was approved in March of 2019. The Cambodian government has yet to publish the total estimated budget for the project.