Cambodia's official imports and exports in 1993 probably amounted to some 1.4 million tonnes. Of this volume, about 1.1 million tonnes used one of the three international ports: Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Siam (43% of the total port tonnage in 1993), Phnom Penh on the Mekong river (46%), or the provincial port of Koh Kong (11%).

Sihanoukville is the main international deep sea port. It was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s. Phnom Penh depends on access via the Mekong through the delta area of Vietnam. Koh Kong is situated near the Thai border and is used by small boats, below 500 dwt. The characteristics of each port are discussed briefly below.

Sihanoukville Port

The Sihanoukville Port has grown to be the largest port in Cambodia, and the only deep water port. Servicing container ships, Naval ships, and cruise ships from around the world. Now, at 125 hectares, the port is continually undergoing expansion and improvement (almost finished now). The Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (PAS) is becoming a main entry point for tourists to Sihanoukville, coming on cruise ships from Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. Many foreign warships also stop here for some R&R.

Phnom Penh Port

The Phnom Penh port is the country's traditional river port, accessible to vessels from the South China Sea through Vietnam.Phnom Penh port is located in-the city, on the Sap river some 3-4 km from its junction with the Mekong. It is some 330 km from the mouth of the Mekong of which about 100 km is in Cambodia and the rest in Vietnam. The distance from Singapore is about 1450 km. Vessels of up to 2,000 dwt-can use the route without difficulty, and 5,000 dwt boats can pass the entrance to the Mekong (the 'Main bottleneck) on favourable tides. Regular dredging is necessary at three points in Cambodia for the 5,000.dwt vessels to reach Phnom Penh. The port serves up to 150 ships per year, including 3 Singapore- based cargo vessels which take 10-12 days for the return voyage.

The Dry Port

In 1993 Slhanoukville port suggested the concept of an inland clearance depot ('dry port') in the Phnom Penh area. Containers arriving in Sihanoukville could be taken by road or rail to the dry port for customs clearance, saving time and reducing inconvenience for customers based in Phnom Penh. In October 1994, it was announced that the project would go ahead under a join venture agreement with a private Singapore company.

Koh Kong Port

The Koh Kong provincial port is really a system of three ports. Vessels entering Cambodia from Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand call first at Paklong, on the Gulf of Siam about 15 km from the Thai border, for customs clearance and other formalities. Up to 300-tonne capacity boats can be accepted, or 500 tonnes at anchorage. The 300-tonne boats can then proceed across the bay to Koh Kong town for unloading or transhipment to smaller vessels if required.

Koh Kong is a small provincial capital with no road access to the rest of Cambodia. Road 43 can only be used (with difficulty) by motor cycles at present. Thus after clearance most boats proceed to another provincial port al Sre Ambel, at an inlet the Kompong Som Bay near Road 4, some 170 km from Phnom Penh. Sre Ambel can only accept 120-130 tonne boats, however. Traffic that arrives at Koh Kong in larger boats has to be transhipped between vessels at Paklong or Koh Kong town.

Paklong and Koh Kong have quite good but limited facilities and are very congested, particularly Paklong. There is some warehousing in Koh Kong town to support the transhipment activity. Koh Kong is also a quite an important fishing port, from which about 16,000 tonnes were exported to Thailand in 1993.

Other Ports

Cambodia's other seaport is at Kampot., 148km from Phnom Penh along Road 3 or 166km by rail. The port is situated in the town on a river bank 4 km from the sea. Of the minor ports, Kampot is the most important coastal facility. It was more important before 1975 when it had better facilities and was able to take vessels of up to 150 tonnes or more. It is a lighter port, with two main approaches from the sea, one of which has fairway depths of 10 m to within 11 km of the port. The other southern channel could accommodate vessels of less than 4.6 m draft. There are three channels through which junks and lighters could enter the river to reach Kampot. A wooden jetty can be used by 30-40 tonne boats. There is a regular trade with Koh Kong, for exchange of goods with Thailand, but Kampot port is not itself used for international traffic.

The other river ports, for example Kompong Cham on the Mekong, are in general also used for domestic traffic only. A small port exists at Kompong Ampil, in Takeo province, where there is a fair amount of trade with Vietnam via a small river that leads into the Bassac, but most boats are only of 25-30 tonne capacity.

Existing Port Traffic

The total traffic through the two main ports increased steadily from their construction in the 1950s to a peak of some 1.5 million tonnes in 1965 (including POL products). No reliable statistics are available for the 1970s. Since 1985, the total port traffic has recovered from 236,000 tonnes to almost one million tonnes in 1993.

The Phnom Penh Port continued to handle most of the port traffic through the early 1960s, with close to one million tonnes in 1962-63. During the mid-1960s much of the traffic to and from countries unfriendly to South Vietnam had to be diverted via SIHANOUKville. The new wharf was added and the southern railway line was constructed. In 1965 Sihanoukville handled two thirds of the total port traffic or about one million tonnes. The constraint on traffic through Vietnam was subsequently removed. Traditional volume exports via Sihanoukville (such as rice) decreased and since 1985 Phnom Penh has again carried more traffic than Sihanoukville every year.

At Sihanoukville some two-thirds of the traffic is imports and one-third exports. Cement and construction materials made up nearly three-quarters of the non-fuel imports in 1993. Most of the export was timber, logs and construction materials. In Phnom Penh as much as 92% of the 1993 traffic was made up of import mostly fuel but also nearly 100,000 tonnes of general cargo. The major exports are rubber and maize. j Very few containers are handled in Phnom Penh although there is some evidence. that the number is understated in the official statistics. Even if this is so, the number is still small. In contrast Sihanoukville is . becoming increasingly important as, a container port. Three shipping lines make regular weekly or fortnightly calls at Sihanoukville with containers from Singapore. Some 15,000 containers used the port in 1993, and the 1994 total is expected to be at least 18,000.

Singapore is the predominant overseas origin-destination for all three international ports (including Koh Kong). Although size breakdown is not available so the figures may not indicate the capacities on each route a small survey by the MPWT in Phnom Penh Port in 1992 gave the following results: It is believed that the import of oil through Sihanoukville by the Shell company is now reaching an annual rate of some 60,000 tonnes a year, well above the 1993 level Shell has invested in a new fleet of road Tankers. The oil import via Phnom Penh during 1994 is estimated at some 300,000 tonnes.