After storms, estuaries are often silted up, causing difficulties for fishermen's production activities.

Regular filling

The Thuan An Fishing Port project combined with the anchorage and storm shelter area with a total investment of 215 billion VND was completed in 2023 and handed over to the Thuan An Fishing Port Management Board for management and operation in 2024. According to the design, the project will be put into operation to ensure the scale for ships to dock and depart with a minimum capacity of 20,000 tons/year, meeting the anchorage and storm shelter needs of about 500 ships of all types with a length of 6m or more (capacity from 45 to 300 CV). However, from the end of the flood season in 2024 to the beginning of 2025, local sedimentation points appeared in some channels of Thuan An fishing port, making it difficult for fishermen's boats to enter and exit the port.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chien (residing in An Duong 2 residential area, Thuan An ward) said that after every rainy and stormy season, boating activities become difficult because of silting at the estuary. The shallow waterway hinders the movement of fishing boats in some fishing ports such as Phu Hai and Thuan An every year. Thanks to the State's investment in dredging, fishing activities are basically not affected much. However, fishermen still want a more long-term solution to the silting at estuaries and fishing ports so that they can feel secure in their production and stay at sea.

According to the approved design documents, the Thuan An Fishing Port project combined with the storm shelter anchorage area has a designed capacity for ships to anchor from 45 - 300 CV. The Department of Agriculture and Environment (DARD) said that after inspection, some locations on the shipping channel and the anchorage area were found to be locally silted. Specifically, the silted area is about 150m2 (from 0.2m - 0.4m) and 5 locations are still locally high on the shipping channel and the anchorage area is about 350m2 (from 0.2m - 0.5m).

Similarly, at the Lach Giang estuary, Chan May - Lang Co commune, recently, the silting of this estuary has occurred quite a lot even though it was only dredged and cleared at the end of 2023. The silting of the estuary has occurred continuously over the years, affecting the activities of fishermen's boats catching aquatic and marine products.

Lach Giang estuary is located in the planning area for the construction of ports serving the transit of container goods, tourism, trade and other duty-free zones, in the new urban development area of ​​Chan May - Lang Co Economic Zone approved by the Prime Minister. In response to the situation of mud and sand filling up Lach Giang estuary, in 2023, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (now the Department of Agriculture and Environment) coordinated with the Management Board of Economic Zones, Industry, departments, branches and localities to inspect, survey and advise on proposed solutions.

Need dredging funds

Recently, the Department of Construction has sent a document to the City People's Committee reporting the results of the inspection of investment, project management, construction, and acceptance of construction items of the Thuan An Fishing Port Project combined with the storm shelter and anchorage area. According to the Department of Construction, the Thuan An Fishing Port Project has been inspected by the State Audit, the Ministry of Finance , confirmed by an independent auditing organization, and has been approved by the City People's Committee for completion according to regulations. The project's works are still operating normally, and preliminary visual inspection has not detected any damage related to the main load-bearing structure of the project.

Faced with the above-mentioned sedimentation situation, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Project Management Board for Investment and Construction of Agricultural and Rural Development Works have directed the supervising consultant and contractor to inspect and conduct dredging of local points to complete the project warranty. Up to now, the anchorage area and waterway have been ensured and all types of boats with a capacity of ≤300CV are operating normally. According to the proposal of the Department of Construction, with the development of the fishing industry, there are more and more large boats, especially fishing logistics service purchasing boats with a large capacity of 800 - 1,000CV, needing to enter the port, so dredging more waterways and berths is reasonable. On that basis, the Department of Construction recommends that the City People's Committee pay attention to allocating funds for regular maintenance and repair of waterways and port infrastructure in general managed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, including Thuan An fishing port, to ensure the long-term operation of the ports. During the dredging process, it is necessary to study the appropriate dredging elevation so that 800 - 1,000CV ships can dock while still ensuring safety for the wharves.

Previously, the Provincial People's Committee (now the City People's Committee) also directed the Provincial Economic and Industrial Zone Management Board (now the City Economic and Industrial Zone Management Board) and localities to urgently deploy solutions to dredge the waterway at Lach Giang estuary. Specifically, in 2024, the Economic and Industrial Zone Management Board approved the project to dredge the waterway at Lach Giang river estuary, with a total investment of about 2.25 billion VND and assigned the Center for Management and Exploitation of Infrastructure of Economic and Industrial Zones as the investor. The project was completed and handed over for use at the end of 2024.

However, due to the direct impact of storms and floods and consecutive natural disasters in late 2024 and early 2025, a large amount of mud and sand has been deposited in the Lach Giang estuary, which needs to be treated. Therefore, in 2025 and the following years, when the construction of the ports has not been completed according to the plan, the City People's Committee will continue to direct and assign the City Economic and Industrial Zone Management Board to annually allocate funds and have a plan to dredge the estuary and prevent sedimentation of the Lach Giang estuary to ensure the safety of fishermen's boats entering and leaving the estuary.

Article and photos: HA NGUYEN

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/kinh-te/khoi-thong-luong-lach-dam-bao-hoat-dong-cua-tau-thuyen-157193.html