Difference between port, harbor, terminal, berth, quay?

A decade ago, I witnessed a dispute between the Maritime Administration and the Customs over the concept of “port” in a legal document issued by the customs, which was interpreted by customs officers in Cai Mep as each terminal in Cai Mep terminal group being a different port. In fact, many people, even in the logistics industry, still cannot distinguish between these concepts. In this article I will present the concepts of harbor, port, terminal, berth, wharf, and then compare them with the concepts of ports in Vietnam.

What is a harbor?

A harbor (or harbour in English) is essentially a body of water protected by natural barriers such as rocks or man-made barriers such as breakwaters. This body of water can provide a safe anchorage for ships and allow the transfer of cargo and/or passengers between the ship and the shore. Harbors can be naturally or artificially formed.

Natural harbors are usually surrounded by land, forming a bay, making them good anchorages for ships. In addition to harbours along the coast, natural harbours can also be found in fjords, inlets, lakes, lagoons and estuaries. In Vietnam, with more than 3,000km of coastline, there are many natural harbours such as Cam Ranh Bay, Van Phong Bay, Thi Nai Lagoon, Da Nang Bay, Chan May Bay, Cua Luc Bay, the lower reaches of Thi Vai River, etc.

Since natural harbors are not always exactly what we want them to be, humans have begun to modify nature. Artificial harbors have evolved to improve commercial performance. Today, artificial harbors can be created anywhere along the coast that connects to industrial areas on land. The most prominent features of artificial harbors are breakwaters, sea walls, and other types of barriers designed to protect harbors from storms and reduce tidal levels.

But of course, creating a Harbor is not that simple. A Harbor needs to be deep enough to allow ships to enter and exit without running aground while providing enough space for ships to turn around and pass each other. The larger the capacity of the ships docking at the port, the deeper the Harbor must be. In Vietnam today, more and more artificial Harbors are appearing, typically the deep-water terminals of ​​Lach Huyen, Son Duong terminal or Truong Sa Lon island,….

Some harbors may also be used as a safe area for ships seeking shelter from bad weather or extreme elements without being an area of ​​commercial activity.

What is a port?

When Harbors are built and used for commercial purposes such as loading and unloading of goods, passengers or anything that generates revenue, they are called Ports. In short, Port is a place in the Harbor where ships can dock for commercial purposes to load and unload goods or transport passengers or carry out the requirements of the ship. However, sometimes people still use Harbor and Port interchangeably.

Port is also the intersection between water and land, so there are trains and trucks entering and leaving the port for the purpose of delivering goods (exported goods onto ships) or picking up goods (imported goods onto ships). In Vietnam, although the coastline is very long, the largest ports are often located on rivers such as: Cai Mep – Thi Vai terminals, Port of Saigon, Cat Lai terminal, Port of Hai Phong, etc. Recently, there is Lach Huyen terminals in the Chanh river mouth area flowing into the Gulf of Tonkin. Notable ports at sea are mainly concentrated in the Central region such as: Nghi Son, Vung Ang, Cua Lo, Chan May, Tien Sa, Vinh Tan, etc.

Ports play a very important role in global trade, being a great “capital” for the economy of any country. Most of the goods in the world are transported through ports and some ports are classified based on the goods they handle. For example, some specialized ports are: Newscalte coal port (UK), New Orleans grain port on the Mississippi River (USA), Port Hedland ore port (Australia), Ras Tanura crude oil port (Saudi Arabia), …

What is a Terminal?

The word “Terminal” may be familiar to many people even if they are not in the Logistics / Shipping industry, where do you think you often see it? That’s right, Terminals are often seen at airports and an airport can have one or more Terminals. In the seaport system, Terminals are similar.

We know that most of the ports in the world receive many different types of goods. In those ports, there will be areas with boundaries for each type of goods, each area is called Terminal. In a port, there can be the following terminals: Container Terminal, Ro-Ro Terminal (or Car Terminal), Oil & Gas Terminal, Bulk Cargo Terminal (Broken Cargo Terminal), Multi-Purpose Terminal (General Cargo Terminal), etc. Or even though they handle the same type of goods, due to the size of the Port, they can still be divided into different terminals. For example, in Cat Lai terminal, it is currently divided into 3 smaller terminals (terminal A, B, C) even though they are all container terminals.

What are Berth / Quay / Wharf?

A quay or wharf is a flat structure built beyond the water’s edge of a port to accommodate loading and unloading equipment and to support the side of a ship when it is anchored at port. Depending on the design, some quays / wharfs may also include covered warehouses, open storage areas, etc. where cargo is unloaded, loaded and stored. The term “quay” is commonly used in the UK and Commonwealth countries while the term “wharf” is preferred in the US.

At each port, the Quay / Wharf is divided into sections of a certain length sufficient to accommodate a ship of a length corresponding to the design of the port and called Berth (berth). In other words, Berth is the mooring position of a ship at the terminal, divided by the length of the wharf (Quay / Wharf). Thus, a Quay / Wharf can have one or more Berths.

What is concept of seaport in Vietnam?

According to the Vietnam Maritime Code, “A seaport is an area including port land and port water, where infrastructure is built, equipment is installed for ships to arrive and depart to load and unload goods, pick up and drop off passengers and perform other services. A seaport has one or more terminals. A terminal has one or more wharves.” In which, “The port land is a limited area of ​​land for building wharves, warehouses, yards, factories, headquarters, service facilities, transportation systems, communications, electricity, water, other auxiliary works and installing equipment.” and “The port water is a limited area of ​​water to establish a water area in front of the wharf, a ship turning area, an anchorage area, a transshipment area, a storm shelter area, a pilot pick-up and drop-off area, a quarantine area, a shipping channel and to build other auxiliary works.”.

Như vậy, khái niệm Cảng biển của VN đã bao gồm cả Harbour và Port và thậm chí trên thực tế, Cảng biển (kiểu VN) được quy hoạch gần như một khu vực hành chính về cảng. Quyết định số 804/QĐ-TTg ngày 8/7/2022 công bố danh mục cảng biển Việt Nam gồm 34 cảng biển và toàn bộ tên Cảng biển tương ứng với tên tỉnh thành địa phương: cảng biển Hải Phòng, cảng biển Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu, Cảng biển Quảng Ninh, Cảng biển Thanh hóa, Cảng biển Nghệ An, Cảng biển Hà Tĩnh, Cảng biển Đà Nẵng, Cảng biển Quảng Ngãi, Cảng biển Bình Định, Cảng biển Khánh Hòa, Cảng biển TP Hồ Chí Minh, Cảng biển Đồng Nai, Cảng biển Cần Thơ,…. Nói cách khác, mỗi tỉnh thành chỉ có tối đa một cảng biển.

Thus, in Vietnam, the concept of Seaport includes both Harbour and Port and in fact, Seaport (Vietnamese style) is planned almost as an administrative area for ports. Decision No. 804/QD-TTg dated July 8, 2022 promulgates the list of Vietnam’s seaports including 34 seaports and all the names of Seaports corresponding to the names of local provinces and cities: port of Hai Phong, port of Ba Ria – Vung Tau, port of Quang Ninh, port of Thanh Hoa, port of Nghe An, port of Ha Tinh, port of Da Nang, port of Quang Ngai, port of Binh Dinh, port of Khanh Hoa, port of Ho Chi Minh City, port of Dong Nai, port of Can Tho,…. In other words, each province and city has a maximum of one seaport.

What are concept of terminal, berth in Vietnam?

According to the Vietnam Maritime Code, “A terminal is an area including land and water areas belonging to a seaport, where wharves, warehouses, yards, factories, headquarters, service facilities, transportation systems, communications, electricity, water, water areas in front of wharves, shipping channels and other auxiliary works are built. A terminal has one or more wharves.” According to Decision No. 323/QD-BGTVT dated March 29, 2024, Vietnam has 298 terminals belonging to the 34 seaports mentioned above.

Như vậy, “Bến cảng” ở VN sẽ tương ứng với terminal ở các cảng trên thế giới. Tuy nhiên, do đặc thù ở VN, Bến cảng sẽ không dễ hình dung như những gì đã trình bày ở trên về Terminal bởi các Bến cảng ở cùng một Cảng biển ở VN có thể rất rời rạc nhau chứ không liền lạc cùng một khu vực. Ví dụ như tại Cảng biển TP.HCM sẽ có: Bến cảng Tân Cảng Cát Lái ở Quận 2, Bến cảng Hiệp Phước ở Nhà Bè, Bến cảng Sài Gòn ở quận 4,… Trước kia, các Bến cảng ở VN thì đều lấy tên tiếng Anh với chữ Port (Cát Lái port, Sài Gòn port, Lotus port,..) nhưng hiện nay, nhiều Bến cảng đã đổi sang Terminal, nhất là các Bến cảng container.

However, due to the characteristics of Vietnam, Terminals in Vietnam will not be as easy to visualize as what was presented above about Terminals because Terminals at the same Seaport in Vietnam can be very separate from each other and not connected in the same area. For example, at Port of Ho Chi Minh City, there will be: Tan Cang Cat Lai terminal in District 2, Hiep Phuoc terminals in Nha Be, Saigon terminals in District 4,… Previously, Terminals in Vietnam all had English names with the word “Port” (Cat Lai port, Saigon port, Lotus port, ..) but now, many of them have changed to Terminals, especially container ports.

Cầu cảng thì đơn giản rồi, nó cũng tương tự như Quay / Wharf thôi. Bộ luật Hàng hải Việt Nam định nghĩa “Cầu cảng là kết cấu cố định hoặc kết cấu nổi thuộc bến cảng, được sử dụng cho tàu thuyền neo đậu, bốc dỡ hàng hóa, đón, trả hành khách và thực hiện các dịch vụ khác.”.

Concept of Wharf in Vietnam is more simple and is similar to Quay / Wharf as described above. Vietnam Maritime Code defines “Wharf is a fixed structure or floating structure belonging to the port, used for ships to anchor, load and unload goods, pick up and drop off passengers and perform other services.”.

What is terminals cluster?

Khu bến cảng hay cụm bến cảng không phải là một khái niệm chính thức trong Bộ luật hàng hải mà được gọi dựa trên phân bố thực tế của nhiều bến cảng tập trung gần nhau. Chẳng hạn như Khu bến cảng Cái Mép – Thị Vải với hàng chục Terminals các loại (container, hàng tổng hợp, hàng ngũ cốc, hàng hóa chất,..) nối liền với nhau dọc sông Thị Vải.

Terminal area or terminal cluster is not an official concept in the Maritime Code but is called based on the actual distribution of many ports concentrated close together. For example, Cai Mep – Thi Vai terminal cluster with dozens of Terminals of all types (containers, general cargo, grain cargo, chemicals, etc.) connected together along the Thi Vai River.

Hopefully the above article has helped readers visualize the different concepts of “port, terminal, harbor,..” in Vietnam and around the world. If you need further discussion, need advice or have a need for Logistics services, please comment below or contact our team of experts immediately to receive the earliest support.