The National Port of Honduras will be receiving expressions of interest for hiring a consulting firm to support the expansion and modernization project of Puerto Cortés.
Services include primarily the function of supporting the Borrower (ENP) in the administration and supervision of the overall project works by performing the following activities:
-Provide specialized consulting services for project implementation
Foreign and local firms, with experience in the operation of dry bulk port terminals, are invited to submit expressions of interest for the project.
Project: MODERNIZATION PROJECT FOR SOLID BULK CARGO TERMINAL AT PUERTO CORTES.
Title: CONTRACT FOR OPERATION OF SOLID BULK TERMINAL
Deadline for receipt of documents: October 2, 2012
The National Port Authority in its capacity as Settlor and the Trustee COALIANZA, in its capacity as Settlor and Banco Atlántida in its capacity as Trustee, signed on 15 May of 2012 a Trust Agreement of Directors for a period of 30 years for structuring, project Development and Promotion of the bulk terminal of Puerto Cortes.
The Honduran Port Authority (ENP in Spanish) has announced it is to invest $225 million in improving the port's facilities.
ENP head, Maynor Pinto, explained that the Cortés Port initiative will be financed by funds from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the World Bank, commenting that in around three months the first $40 million are expected.
The funds will be used in infrastructure projects such as the Patuca III hydro power plant.
William Chong Wong, finance minister, explained that the money comes from several international institutions such as the World Bank, the IDB, CABEI and the Governments of Taiwan and Europe.
Chong noted that “the government could create between 10,000 and 12,000 jobs via these projects, which include the Patuca III dam, roads and improving the facilities of Port Cortés”.
The IDB loan will finance the dredging of the harbor and port locations as well as the construction of a new container terminal.
Honduras will expand and modernize the largest port in Central America with funding provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for a total of $ 135 million.
Puerto Cortes is the main Honduran port, moving 90 percent of maritime cargo.
The port authority is working on a $225 million shipping terminal expansion project.
The head of Honduras' national ports authority (ENP in Spanish), Mynor Pinto, indicated that the project comprises the fitting out of a grain terminal and another for cruise ships.
The funds invested will be overseen by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).
$3.9 million will be invested in dredging the port.
Authorities expect to remove at least 500.000 cubic meters of sandy material, which will be used as filler material at the container terminal of the National Ports Company (ENP).
“The team will stay for 45 days to dredge 480.000 meters of materials and deposit them at the backyard of the future container terminal”, reported Proceso Digital.
From yesterday until Friday, port representatives from the isthmus will be gathered, assessing the progress in port modernization.
In the beginning of the meeting Rolando Diaz, manager of concessions for the Autonomous Port Executive Committee of El Salvador, referred to the completion of la Unión Centroamericana Port in December 2008, with an investment of $183 million.
Work to expand and upgrade ports in Central America is coming in fits and starts as port authorities and national governments grapple with governance and social issues.
“All of the Central American ports have some expansion in mind, some more than others,” said Mike Hopkins, vice president of operations in the U.S. for Crowley Maritime Corp., a shipping line active in the U.S. trades with Central America and the Caribbean.