Hateco Haiphong International Container Terminal, Vietnam

Hateco Haiphong International Container Terminal (HHIT) in northern Vietnam is a strong recent example of smart landside logistics and gate management in practice. Located at berths 5 and 6 of the Lach Huyen deepwater port area in Hai Phong, HHIT has been developed as a "Smart and Green terminal," with a heavy emphasis on digital gate systems, truck appointments and landside flow optimization. (HHIT, 2025a, 2025b, 2025c, 2025d)

Location and timeline

HHIT is situated in the Lach Huyen deep-water port zone, the main international gateway for northern Vietnam. Hateco Group developed the terminal and, at its inauguration, signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic collaboration with APM Terminals. The smart-port infrastructure was built over roughly 30 months; the terminal’s initial deep-sea berths and core systems were ready in 2024 to early 2025. (HHIT, 2025a, 2025b, 2025c, 2025d)

Key milestones include:

• 2022 to 2024: Construction and installation of equipment, with the NAVIS N4 Terminal Operating System (TOS) going live in January 2025 and the automated gate and TAS entering full operation on June 16, 2025, after three months of testing. (HHIT, 2025a, 2025b, 2025c, 2025d)
• February 2025: First container vessel (ESL Dubai) successfully handled at HHIT, marking the start of commercial operations. (Real Logistics, 2025)
• April 2025: Grand opening of HHIT, providing two new deep-water berths (total quay length about 900 m) and a 73-hectare smart-port facility. (HHIT, 2025a, 2025b, 2025c, 2025d)

From the outset, the terminal has been marketed as Vietnam’s most advanced deep-sea container port, designed for efficient landside flows as much as for ship operations.

Smart landside logistics and gate systems

HHIT’s landside concept is built around an automated gate system tightly integrated with a Truck Appointment System (TAS) and the NAVIS N4 TOS. Key elements include:

• Fully automated gate operation: The entry/exit complex uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and RFID to automatically capture truck, container and chassis details, verify bookings and direct drivers to the correct yard blocks or lanes. This minimizes manual document checks and reduces gate dwell time.
• Truck Appointment System (TAS): HHIT describes its system as Vietnam’s first automatic gate and truck appointment system (HHIT, 2025c). All container truck drivers book appointments through the TAS mobile app (iOS and Android) before arriving at the terminal.
• Integration with TOS and operations center: The NAVIS N4 TOS functions as the “brain and heart,” synchronizing vessel, yard and gate plans.

These features collectively constitute smart landside logistics: physically, HHIT has a 73 hectare site; digitally, it uses automation and software to sequence truck arrivals, keep queues short and match landside flows to vessel and yard constraints. (HHIT, 2025a, 2025b, 2025c, 2025d)

Benefits (HHIT, 2025a, 2025b, 2025c, 2025d; HHIT, 2026)

HHIT and its partners report several concrete outcomes in terms of landside performance:

• Truck turnaround time: HHIT reports an average truck turnaround time of 16 minutes over its first 11 months of commercial operation (reported January 2026), compared with what it describes as a market average of 35 minutes (HHIT, 2026). The release does not define how turnaround is measured or isolate the effect of the TAS.
• Congestion reduction and smoother peaks: HHIT states that the automatic gate and TAS aim at "easing congestion and reducing emissions," and that its non-stop OCR gate and self-service kiosks reduce gate processing time to under 30 seconds.
• Higher capacity and resilience: HHIT's 900 m quay can receive vessels of up to 200,000 DWT (about 18,000 TEU). In 2025 the terminal commissioned 7 STS cranes and 20 e-RTGs, and monthly volume peaked at 108,430 TEU, more than 130% of Phase 1 design capacity.
• Environmental and social benefits:
• Electric e-RTGs and electrified STS cranes, coupled with efficient yard and gate operations, are expected to reduce local emissions compared with diesel-intensive terminals.
• Shorter truck queues and quick gate processing should mean less idling and lower air-pollutant and CO₂ emissions along the access corridor.
• Predictable flows and reduced congestion are expected to improve safety for drivers and surrounding communities, while digital transactions and smart-port applications reduce paper use and on-site administrative trips.

For shippers and shipping lines, HHIT’s smart landside logistics translate into lower total logistics costs and improved schedule reliability. Direct calls by large vessels reduce transshipment, while efficient gate and yard operations reduce the risk of missing cut-offs or incurring truck-waiting surcharges. For the region, the terminal strengthens Hai Phong’s role as a manufacturing and export hub, with high-capacity, digitally managed connectivity to North Vietnam’s industrial zones. (Real Logistics, 2025)

Overall, HHIT demonstrates how a new deep-sea terminal can embed smart landside logistics and gate management from day one (combining autogates, TAS, TOS integration and electrified equipment) and reports low truck turnaround times and high throughput; environmental and safety outcomes have not been measured in the sources reviewed.