Unlocking the Gateway to the US Market: Chu Lai Port’s New Maritime Route

This is a significant step forward in the strategy to attract cargo sources, shipping lines, and expand the transportation network, while also affirming Chu Lai port’s position as an international transit gateway in the Central and Tay Nguyen regions.

A Direct Journey to the US

On November 18, at Chu Lai port, a batch of 400 semi-trailers from THACO INDUSTRIES was loaded onto a vessel, embarking on a journey to Jacksonville on the East Coast of the United States. This is the first ship departing from Chu Lai, directly transporting export goods to the US market without the need for transshipment through mother vessels as before.

The ship’s journey passes through major ports, including Kanda (Japan), Busan (South Korea), Chu Lai (Vietnam), and Nantong (China), before reaching its final destination at Jacksonville (US). With this maritime route, Chu Lai port opens up opportunities for businesses to quickly access large markets in Asia and the US – Vietnam’s largest export market.

A spokesperson from the exporting company shared: “The American market, especially the United States, has a large import and export turnover with product groups that can be transported by sea in both directions, such as wood products, means of transport, and spare parts. Therefore, it is essential that Chu Lai port opens a direct sea route to the US, helping export goods in the Central and Tay Nguyen regions to bypass the transshipment step, while also allowing for the combination of importing and exporting goods, thus helping businesses save significantly in terms of time and costs.”

International ship docking at Chu Lai port, opening a direct sea route to the US

Optimal Solution for Exporting Businesses

Currently, the demand for exporting goods to the US from Central Vietnam businesses is very high. To meet this demand, Chu Lai port is expanding its cooperation with many international shipping lines, intensifying the exploitation of maritime routes, and connecting with many large ports on the East and West coasts of the US, such as Savannah, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Chicago, New York, Jacksonville, and Seattle, with a frequency of 4 trips per month. Notably, Chu Lai port provides a charter service (flexible schedule), helping businesses transport goods quickly when there is a surge in production or urgent orders without having to depend on international ships (fixed schedules).

Mr. Phan Van Ky, Director of Chu Lai port, said: “Since the deep-water port came into operation, with the ability to receive general cargo ships of up to 50,000 DWT, along with modern and large-capacity loading and unloading equipment, Chu Lai port has attracted many domestic and international companies to cooperate and increase the frequency of port calls. The development of a direct sea route to the US will help businesses in Chu Lai, Tam Thang, Thuan Yen (Quang Nam), and VSIP (Quang Ngai) industrial parks save on transshipment costs to large ports in the South and North regions.”

Moreover, THILOGI’s successful registration of the FMC license from the US Federal Maritime Commission has helped exporting businesses through Chu Lai port avoid risks and additional costs at the place of delivery or transshipment points, as the US market has strict regulations on cargo declaration, customs clearance, and more.

Export cargo being transported by THILOGI to the port

So far this year, Chu Lai port has received nearly 1,000 vessel calls with diverse service routes, providing optimal transportation solutions for businesses. In the future, the port will continue to expand its market, promote the exploitation of export cargo sources from clusters and industrial parks in the Central, Tay Nguyen, Laos, and Cambodia regions to attract new shipping lines and open additional international sea routes.

Now, Chu Lai port is not only a strategic gateway but also plays a driving role in regional economic development, bringing benefits to the community of import and export businesses.