Concerns about the traffic at the area of container scanners in Hai Phong

However, during the construction of the project, it also raises concerns about the traffic and transport of goods into the area having the container scanning system of Hai Phong Customs.

According to our observation, the flyover is located at Road 365 (an arterial route to seaports of Hai Phong, notably in Dinh Vu port) and Nguyen Binh Khiem street. In order to facilitate the construction, the authorities have to ban or restrict vehicles, especially cars from Road 365 to Nguyen Binh Khiem street – this is also a route having the Centre of fixed container scanners of the Hai Phong Customs Department. Thus, in order to transport suspicious containers to be scanned, vehicles must move on the Hai Phong – Ha Noi highway (National Highway 5), to the intersection of Do Son to enter the city centre in the direction of Rao Bridge, Lach Tray then turn back to the area where the scanners are located. It is likely a compulsory measure.

So, in order to facilitate the operation of the Centre of container scanners, the functional forces of Hai Phong have been flexible to open temporary passages on Nguyen Binh Khiem street for vehicles transporting containers in or out to be scanned. However, this route will cause difficulty for vehicles and effect on the operation of the Centre of fixed container scanners, especially in the context of the Customs sector are promoting the application and improvement of the container scanner system’s efficiency, reducing manual inspection to reduce clearance time.

In addition to the difficulty of moving vehicles in and out the Centre of fixed container scanners, the construction at Nguyen Binh Khiem – Dinh Vu intersection also has a big effect on the operation of mobile scanners located in Green Port. And to solve the problem of transport and match with the transport demands in the locality, the Hai Phong Customs Department are collaborating with functional forces to find a solution and location to move this mobile scanner from Green Port to Dinh Vu port. However, choosing a suitable location to exploit full operation of the scanner system is not easy because its premises and roads are in great use. According to our observation, most premises in the port have been used to hold import and export containers. On the other hand, finding a convenient location in terms of transport to install this scanner serving goods in several ports is not easy.

In fact, with the characteristics of the port sketch and having many small ports like Hai Phong, the story of difficulty and transport seeking areas to install container scanners of Customs authorities are not new.

Before the street which serves the construction at Nguyen Binh Khiem – Dinh Vu intersection is banned, the movement of vehicles to the scanning area on Nguyen Binh Khiem street and in Green Port has been no different to the move into the city centre because the traffic density of the city was very large. Thus, in order to increase the scanning capacity, the Hai Phong Customs Department has to adjust the route of vehicles which move in/out the Centre of container scanners. Previously, when vehicles were subject to inspect by scanners from ports to Nguyen Binh Khiem street they would turn left and go straight to the scanning area. After scanning and inspection, those vehicles would turn back to Nguyen Binh Khiem street. Currently, this route has been reversed as road for vehicles which move out the centre are using for vehicles which wait for screening, the road for vehicles moving on the centre previously are used for vehicles have been inspected completely and move to the arterial road. This arrangement helps to raise the number of vehicles moving in/out the Centre of container scanners, and improve the system’s capacity.

However, the ban to serve the instruction at the Nguyen Binh Khiem – Dinh Vu intersection in many months is difficult to handle by this measure mentioned above, and it will be a big challenge for the Hai Phong Customs Department in improving the capacity and efficiency of container scanners in the coming time.