The logistics hub layout in northern Vietnam is welcoming a new heavyweight investment. In October 2026, APM Terminal Company, a subsidiary of A.P. Moller Maersk, and Vietnam Haitai Group officially signed a cooperation agreement to jointly build a railway container terminal in northern Vietnam. The total investment of the project is about 3.5 billion US dollars, which coincides with the signing of the contract during the state visit of Vietnamese President Liang Qiang to Denmark, becoming a landmark project for logistics infrastructure cooperation between the two countries.

The cooperation between the two sides in coastal rail intermodal transportation continues to deepen

This is not the first collaboration between Maersk and Haitai Group. In early 2026, the consortium formed by both parties won the bid for the Danang Liannuo Container Terminal project, with a total investment of about 1.7 billion US dollars, a planned land area of about 172.6 hectares, the construction of 8 container berths, a designed annual throughput of about 5.7 million TEUs, and the ability to dock 18000 TEU class ultra large container ships. The Lianzhao Port project itself includes a complete railway intermodal transportation plan. The port area will be equipped with a railway freight yard, which will be connected to the Vietnamese national railway network through a dedicated railway line of about 1.5 kilometers, strengthening the efficient connection between the port and the inland hinterland.

The Haitai Haiphong International Container Terminal, located in the Lih County area of Haiphong, Vietnam, is one of the important deep-water container terminals in northern Vietnam. APM Terminal Company has officially become a 49% minority shareholder and operating partner of the terminal in 2026, and the operational cooperation between the two sides in the core gateway port of northern Vietnam has entered a stable landing stage.

Vietnam's nationwide sea rail intermodal network is gradually taking shape

The signing of the North Vietnam Railway Container Terminal project this time means that the cooperation between the two parties is further extending from deepwater port operation to railway intermodal hub nodes, directly filling the gap in railway transportation between North Vietnam ports and inland hinterland, and strengthening the full chain sea rail intermodal transportation service capacity. Maersk is continuously improving its full chain logistics network layout in Vietnam through a combination of port, railway, and inland connectivity, from the Haiphong Deepwater Port in Danang to the proposed railway container terminal in northern Vietnam.

For Vietnam, this batch of infrastructure investment will directly improve the turnover efficiency of import and export goods in the central and northern regions, significantly reduce the overall logistics costs of the region, and provide solid underlying support for the long-term stable growth of Vietnam's foreign trade industry. Keywords: sea rail intermodal hub, import and export logistics

Extending from the harbor berth to the inland railway station, a sea rail intermodal logistics network covering the north and south of Vietnam is rapidly being realized from the planning drawings.Editor/Cheng Liting