PAT to go ahead with bidding for dredging project at Laem Chabang Port
The Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) is readying the bidding process for the dredging project at Laem Chabang Port in Chonburi province to increase traffic flow and ensure the safety of ships docking at the port, PAT director-general Vice Admiral Kamolsak Promprayoon said.
“The project will cover the dredging of two ship basins and a fairway, which will remove excessive soil and maintain the level of above-ground water within the safety standard,” he said. “Furthermore, it will ensure that large container ships can dock with no problem and hopefully will attract more ships to use the port to its fullest capacity."
Kamolsak added that currently Basin 1 has excessive soil at 401,921 cubic metres above safety standard, while Basin 2 is 568,139 cubic metres above the standard, and the fairway is 828,380 cubic metres above the standard.
PAT expected the project to be completed within 360 days.
The project is a part of Phase 3 development of Laem Chabang Port, which aims to increase the port’s capacity from 11 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) containers per year to 18 million containers per year. Phase 3 also includes the construction of the new F port, scheduled to start in October 2022 and open for use in 2024, and the opening of the E port in 2030.