Vinalines loses license on sluggish port project
Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 14:23 GMT+7
Khanh Hoa-based Van Phong Economic Zone has canceled the investment license of the state-run shipping line Vinalines, who failed to begin work on the Van Phong international transshipment container port project, the EZ board management announced on Monday.
Within the next six to 12 months, Vinalines must complete all procedure to liquidate the project, said Hoang Dinh Phi, deputy chief of the EZ management board.
Once the liquidation tasks are completed, Van Phong EZ will officially revoke Vinalines’ license, he said.
The EZ is calling for other investors, both local and international, to replace Vinalines to continue the Van Phong port project.
The US$3.9 billion project broke ground in October 2009, and was scheduled to reach completion in 2020.
However, work was temporarily suspended in June 2010 as Vinalines had to review the geologist’s report of the construction. The contractor managed to build only 97 out of the 1,729 stakes required for the project by then.
In 2011 Vinalines announced a halt on construction in order to revise the project design.
The ill-fated project, however, was officially ceased in September 2012, after the government approved the proposal by the transport ministry to stop its implementation.
Other cancelations
Phi also said the Van Phong EZ has pulled the plug on the Van Phong industrial service complex in Ninh Hoa District.
The project is invested by the Sao Mai - Ben Dinh Petroleum Investment JSC, a subsidiary of the state-run oil and gas giant PetroVietnam.
The project was licensed in May 2011, with a total registered capital of $1.4 billion.
The investor, however, failed to start any construction on the project, even though it was expected to be finished in 2017.
Elsewhere, in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, the local government announced on Monday that it will revoke the license of a luxury ecotourism project that has been progressing slowly.
The “Hon Ngoc Chau A” (Asian Pearl) resort, located in the island district of Phu Quoc, was registered by the Switzerland-based Trustee Suisee Group and Vinaconex in 2007 with a total investment of EUR 2 billion.
