Ground Broken on Phase I of Sihanoukville’s US$243m Deep-Water Container Terminal Project

• Sommana Yan
• 22 December 2023
• Construction Focus
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The commencement of the first phase of an expansive deep-water container terminal project in Sihanoukville has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Samdech Hun Manet. The construction, spearheaded by the Japanese firm TOA Corporation and technically supervised by Nippon Koei and Oriental Consultants Global, is slated for completion in 2026 with an estimated cost exceeding US$243 million.

This transformative deep-sea port project anticipates not only revolutionizing Sihanoukville’s shipping capabilities but also yielding significant cost savings. Expected to accommodate 93% of the area at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port—compared to the current 18%—the new container port is projected to reduce shipping costs by approximately US$200 per container.

Following the first phase, the Royal Government plans expansive growth with the second and third phases. The second phase, with an investment of US$698 million, aims to enhance port capacity to over 1.8 million containers annually, allowing for efficient transport within the Indo-Pacific region. The subsequent third phase, with an additional investment of over US$698 million, is poised to elevate the port’s capacity to around 2.5 million containers per year, facilitating seamless global trade.

Speaking on the significant collaboration, the Prime Minister emphasized, “This project aligns with our vision to transform the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port into a global hub capable of accommodating large container vessels from every corner of the world.”

As the port embarks on this ambitious expansion, the feasibility study underscores its potential to metamorphose from a small international port into a large-scale, internationally pivotal port. In the first 11 months of 2023 alone, the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port experienced a notable 11.34% increase in transit goods volume, reinforcing its strategic importance on the global trade map.

In addition, the volume of containers passing through the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port totaled more than 750,000 containers, with an average increase of 10.83% in the last 12 years from 2010 to 2022.

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