On May 20, 1955, exactly one week after the liberation of the city and Hai Phong port, two pilots Nguyen Van Hoa and Nguyen Y Net successfully led two French ships - the SaintValery-en-Caux (10,000 DWT) and the Le Vernon (8,000 DWT) - to Hai Phong port safely, leaving the French in awe. That was the milestone marking the resumption of Hai Phong port. 70 years later, Hai Phong seaport has undergone a spectacular transformation, capable of receiving the world's largest container "super ships", becoming a port cluster with the busiest frequency of ships entering and loading goods in the world.
Historical Mark
Hai Phong Port was established in 1874 with 6 initial warehouses, as recorded in the familiar song: “Hai Phong has Sau Kho wharf. There is Cua Cam river, there is cement kiln.” After the city was liberated (May 13, 1955), on May 20, despite having no documents about the waterway, the port pilots researched, redrawn the shipping channel and successfully guided two large French ships into the port. The port was then taken over by the Ministry of Transport and Public Works and quickly restored its function as the largest commercial port in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
During the war against the US, Hai Phong Port played the role of the largest sea route, receiving nearly 40 million tons of aid from the Soviet Union and socialist countries. It was also the target of fierce attacks by the US Air Force with more than 300 bombing raids from 1965 to 1972.
After 1975, due to limited investment resources, low mechanization at the port, and long cargo clearance times. In the 1980s, the port was only capable of receiving ships from 10,000 to 15,000 tons. The narrow and rapidly silted channel led to frequent congestion. Mr. Cao Tien Thu, former General Director of Hai Phong Port, recalled that in the late 1990s, the channel was so severely silted that large ships could not enter.
Miraculous change
In 1999, when the Prime Minister approved the master plan for the development of Vietnam's seaport system until 2010, it was a major turning point because for the first time, seaports were planned on a national scale. Hai Phong Port began to transform, especially with the project to upgrade Chua Ve Port into an international standard container terminal. By 2007, after completing the upgrade, Chua Ve became the most modern container terminal in the North with a capacity of 500,000 TEU/year. Not stopping there, new projects were continuously implemented in the Tan Vu, Dinh Vu areas... from non-budgetary sources. In particular, the international gateway port in Lach Huyen was built with the capacity to receive container ships of over 200,000 DWT.
On May 13, 2018, on the occasion of Hai Phong Liberation Day, Tan Cang Hai Phong International Container Port (TC-HICT) at Lach Huyen wharf officially came into operation. This is the first deep-water port in the North and is among the 20 largest container ports in the world, capable of receiving ships with a tonnage of 132,900 tons, a capacity of 12,000 TEUs, going directly to America and Europe without transit. This "transformation" journey is even more meaningful when in April 2025, Hateco Group inaugurated Hateco Hai Phong International Container Port (berths 5 and 6). And recently, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Hai Phong Liberation Day, berths 3 and 4 invested by Hai Phong Port Joint Stock Company were also officially inaugurated.
Currently, among nearly 300 ports nationwide, Hai Phong ranks first with 50 ports, with a total wharf length of more than 15 km. The volume of goods passing through the port system here has continuously grown at double-digit rates, affirming its leading position in the national maritime industry. In 2026, wharfs 7, 8 and the following wharfs in Lach Huyen area will start construction. At the same time, the first wharfs of Nam Do Son port are also expected to start construction before 2030.
The city also pioneered in investing about 11,000 billion VND from the budget to implement the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project, with the end point at Lach Huyen port area, along with two branch lines connecting to Nam Dinh Vu and Nam Do Son ports. This will be a breakthrough, opening a new era for Hai Phong seaport - not only a national gateway, but also a solid international transit center on the global maritime map.