With the increased movement of U.S. troops into the Saigon area to support the Vietnam War, the deep-draft facilities there proved completely inadequate.

[2]: 96–7 To get the port operational as soon as possible, planning proceeded for seven lighterage berths and four Landing Ship, Tank (LST) slips and ramps.

Instead, local contractors furnished much of the fill, and their sampans accounted for about 3,900 of the 9,150 cubic yards of sand hauled in from other places each day.

By midyear, the director of construction reported that RMK-BRJ drove 156 piles for the barge and LST wharves.

In August 1966, the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked for a reevaluation of the entire project to refine the cost required to complete the port as originally designed.

In late January 1967, the first berth was declared open and commemorated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony as the first ship came alongside.