The first two of six super post-panamax cranes are being delivered this week to Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT) - the first in Vietnam able to handle 15,000teu vessels.

The first shipment will also include six rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs), with two ship-to-shore cranes and seven RTGs following next month.

General Director Michael Them Rasmussen said: "CMIT will be the first container terminal in Vietnam to cater for this size of container vessel and will be complemented by direct access to a newly dredged channel offering a minimum water depth of 14 metres."

A number of shipping lines have introduced services to Vietnam recently, to reflect growth in the country's exports.

There are 12 vessel strings already offering direct liner services between Cai Mep and North America, Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, with a further three recently announced.

Rasmussen added: "With the new deepwater access and the continuing flow of newbuildings exceeding 10,000teu into the Asia-Europe trades, interest in bringing larger container vessels to Vietnam has continued."

Container volumes at Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City and Cai Mep ports surged by 21% in the first 11 months of 2010, leading to an estimated full-year throughput of more than 4.3 million teu.