Competition between Maersk and MSC in Vietnam is becoming one of the most significant developments in Southeast Asia’s container sector. Both groups are increasing investment in the country’s port infrastructure, with particular attention on the Lach Huyen complex in Hai Phong, where their terminal subsidiaries operate on adjacent berths. This operational proximity highlights an increasingly direct confrontation, further sharpened by the end of the 2M alliance in January 2025.
At Lach Huyen, Maersk and MSC will open their new container terminals in 2025 within the same infrastructure expansion. Maersk, in partnership with Vietnam’s Hateco, has launched the Hateco Haiphong International Container Terminal, offering 900 metres of quay across 73 hectares and draughts down to -18.4 metres, suitable for two large containerships. MSC, through Terminal Investment Limited, has developed Berths 3 and 4 in joint venture with Hai Phong Port: HTIT will provide an expected capacity of 1.1 million TEU per year, backed by an estimated investment of about 300 million dollars. The simultaneous entry into service of the two terminals makes Lach Huyen the central battleground between the two global operators and a crucial node in their Asian networks.
Competitive pressure intensified following Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc’s visit to Hanoi, where on 18 November 2025 he met To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party. According to information released by the Vietnamese Government, Clerc confirmed the group’s interest in developing low-emission ports, advanced logistics projects and energy transition initiatives. Vietnamese authorities outlined several potential investment areas, including the future Lien Chieu port in Danang and the new international complex at Can Gio in Ho Chi Minh City. Maersk’s focus on the country’s central region marks an extension of its collaboration with Hateco in Hai Phong.
MSC, for its part, has concentrated much of its strategy on the Can Gio International Transshipment Port, proposed by Saigon Port and Til as a new regional hub. The project foresees an investment estimated between 4.5 and 6 billion dollars and a full-capacity throughput of 16.9 million TEU by 2045, with more than 7.2 kilometres of quay and a 571-hectare footprint. After the investment policy was approved by prime minister Pham Minh Chinh in January 2025, the first phase is expected to be operational in 2027. The stated goal is to reduce reliance on Singapore for transhipment, cutting distances by between 30% and 70% on the main routes. For MSC, this Vietnamese hub fits into a broader reorganisation of its flows, following its shared experience in Malaysia at the Tanjung Pelepas terminal.
Maersk’s response also includes development of the Lien Chieu port in Danang, approved in September 2025. The proposal, submitted by Hateco Group and Apm Terminals, involves an investment of between 1.76 and 1.8 billion dollars for an infrastructure designed to handle 5.7 million TEU per year, split across eight container terminals and developed in phases through to 2036. Central Vietnam would thus become another strategic balancing point in the rivalry between the two carriers, strengthening the country’s offer of deepwater ports.
The dissolution of the 2M alliance between the two companies forms the backdrop to this investment drive. The vessel-sharing agreement, active for a decade on major routes, ended in 2025 for strategic reasons: Maersk launched the Gemini Cooperation with Hapag-Lloyd, while MSC opted to operate independently. Increasingly divergent industrial models have made direct control of port infrastructure essential, especially in countries with strong import–export growth such as Vietnam.
The national context further reinforces this trend. With more than 22 million TEU handled in 2024 and a 3,200-kilometre coastline, Vietnam is seen as one of Asia’s emerging logistics platforms. The Cai Mep–Thi Vai cluster reached 10.98 million TEU in 2024, exceeding its design capacity and underlining the need for new investment. Maersk and MSC’s initiatives are helping modernise infrastructure, reduce logistics costs and enhance the country’s ability to serve key routes to Europe and the United States directly.
Michele Latorre
