Rivers, canals gradually dying in Mekong River Delta
Rivers and canals in the southwestern region are becoming depleted as they are not regularly dredged and cleared, and are encroached upon by people’s housing. There are 26 seaports, big and small in Mekong Delta. The dredging capability and canal network in the region are factors that determine the scale and capacity of the ports. However, the river and canal dredging and maintenance are ineffective, which has resulted in river and canal sedimentation, thus badly affecting the region’s waterways transport. The Vietnam Maritime Bureau believes that the asynchrony between harbors’ scale and passage to ports is the biggest problem of the seaports in Mekong Delta. The natural stream altitudes of the Tieu Estuary on Tien River, Dinh An & Tran De Estuaries on Hau River, Bo De Estuary on Cua Lon River and other estuaries only allow 1,000-2,000 DWT full-load vessels and 3,000-5,000 DWT offloading vessels, which take advantage of high tides to operate.
