“The 18-kilometer (11-mile) crossing connects Ca Mau province to tiny Hon Khoai island — the centerpiece of a nearly $4 billion dual-use seaport and transport corridor linking the Mekong Delta region to global shipping routes in the Gulf of Thailand. For Hanoi, the project not only represents an expensive economic gamble, but a strategic response to growing concerns about Beijing’s expanding influence next door in Cambodia, and its increasingly dominant position in the South China Sea.”
“Plans for Hon Khoai island have circulated for years, but the project backed by the navy gained urgency in 2024 after Cambodia broke ground on a China-funded canal that raised fresh security concerns in Hanoi, according to a senior defense official familiar with the matter. The port would create a new gateway for trade and logistics in the Mekong Delta while giving Vietnam a stronger foothold in surrounding waters, said the official who requested anonymity and was not authorized to speak publicly.”
“China last year helped upgrade [Cambodia’s] Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, while the $1.2 billion Funan Techo Canal, a 180-kilometer artery from Phnom Penh to the coast, has fueled fears that Cambodia could increasingly bypass Vietnamese ports and waterways, weakening a source of economic leverage over its neighbor.”
“The island’s position on the approaches to the Gulf of Thailand will allow Vietnam to operate larger vessels closer to developments in Cambodia and the country’s southwestern maritime frontier. And unlike shallower facilities farther west, the deep-water port, which is expected to handle 20 million tons of cargo annually, is designed to receive ships of up to 250,000 deadweight tons, large enough for some of the world’s biggest commercial bulk carriers and tankers…”
“Together with naval facilities on Phu Quoc and a planned multipurpose airfield on Tho Chu island, Hon Khoai would form part of a broader network of military and commercial infrastructure across Vietnam’s southwestern waters.”