The Chinese Landbridge Group has acquired Panama Colon Container Port and will invest the $900 million required for the new terminal, whose construction will be the responsibility of the Chinese company CCCC.
China Communications and Construction Company (CCCC) will oversee the construction of the new port project on Isla Margarita, in the Atlantic province of Colon.
The Executive Branch is considering the cancellation of the lease agreement between Ferrovías and Cobigua after the Attorney General's Office filed a complaint alleging anomalies.
The Executive is evaluating whether it will declare invalid the lease agreement between Compañía Desarrolladora Ferroviaria (Ferrovías) and Compañía Bananera Guatemalteca Independiente (Cobigua) days after the PGN filed a suit with the Public Prosecutor to start an investigation to determine " ... who were the people responsible for signing the contract, in addition to identifying what legal standards were used by Ferrovías to finalise the aforementioned contract, since that company has no power over the state." See "Corruption denounce in the concessioning and management of Puerto Quetzal" Lahora.gt reports that "...The contract entitles Cobigua to use the port of Puerto Barrios, Izabal, until 2048, after the expiry last year of the onerous usufruct contract, awarded in 1990. In the view of the former Attorney General of the Nation, Maria Eugenia Villagran, Ferrovías had no authority to give the port administration over to Cobigua."
While the movement of cargo imports and exports grows, the port of Quetzal has kept the same amount of docking areas as it had 30 years ago.
Businesses are complaining about saturation at the docks at Puerto Quetzal, which has reached 72%.
An article on Elsalvador.com reports that "... Cargo movement of imports and exports increased and national ports are very saturated, said Maria Lucia Soto, executive director of the Council of International Transport Users of Guatemala (Cutrigua). "
APM Terminals BV, Terminal Link, PSA International Pte., Ltd. and Terminal Investment Limited, S.A. are the four port operators shortlisted to participate in the construction and operation of a container transshipment port in Corozal.
From a statement issued by the Panama Canal Authority:
A total of four bidding companies were pre-qualified for the concession for the design, construction, development and operation of the commercial activity to run a container transshipment port in the area of West Corozal.
The acquisition of TCB by APM Terminals means that any dispute concerning the granting of Puerto Quetzal will involve the largest group in the world in the maritime sector, the Maersk shipping company.
Following the Public Ministry's denouncement of the existence of an illicit money laundering network operating in the Container Terminal at Quetzal , the government of Jimmy Morales is torn between declaring void the concession contract with the current operator, TCB, as recommended by the Attorney General's Office on several occasions, or making other arrangements with the company. The Morales government may have to negotiate with the Danish giant Maersk Group, which bought 100% of the shares of the Spanish TCB in October 2015, according to an article on Elperiodico.com.gt.
The Inter-American Development Bank has announced that it will provide a loan of $20 million to fund feasibility studies for a port in the Caribbean.
The funds provided by the entity will be used for studies needed to determine the characteristics of the area, the exact location and cost of building the infrastructure, as well as any possible environmental impact on the coast of Bluefields.
The Public Ministry of Guatemala has announced that its investigations have shown that a network of illicit laundering of money and other assets operated in the port terminal.
Consideration is being given to canceling the contract with the concessionaire Container Terminal Spanish Quetzal after the denouncement that it paid bribes to Perez Molina for the award of the terminal.
The port authority will receive bids until May 23 for the tender, once again, of the design, construction, operation and maintenance of Aguadulce port.
The Panama Maritime Authority tried to tender last year the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a port terminal in Aguadulce, Cocle province. However, although there were 19 companies interested in the project, the tender was declared void because none of them formalized a proposal.
The Panama Canal Authority plans to publish conditions for the tender in August, after participants have completed a pre qualification process and consultation period.
Today March 11th is the date of receipt of proposals from companies interested in the construction and concession of the port. In November , the ACP announced that eleven companies had expressed interest in the project. Now it is hoped there will be at least four proposals so that there is an adequate level of competition with which to proceed with the tender.
The government has rejected the environmental study run by the Martinelli administration for the construction of the terminal and has put the project on hold.
The multipurpose wharf project Puerto Verde Panama Atlantico, which involved the sale of Isla Largo Remo and the construction of a mega terminal for handling containers from super post panamax ships, has been canceled.
Documents for prequalification in the tender to build and design the container terminal may be submitted up until March 11 at 3:00 pm.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has extended the deadline for delivery of documents to prequalify to bid for the concession to design and build a container port in Corozal until Friday 11 March 2016 at 3:00 pm.
Plans are being made for a project in Puerto Santo Tomas de Castilla to construct infrastructure for the operation of bulk cargo ships.
The promoter of the project, Comercializadora Pahame S.A., stated in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, that the development is to be called "Technical services and authorization for loading and unloading of ships carrying solid bulk cargo through a new installation of floating and removable pontoons, independent of the current berths belonging to Empornac".
A terminal in Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas, would streamline logistics of cargo which currently comes through the ports of Limon in Costa Rica and Cortés in Honduras.
If the plans of the National Port Company (EPN) are realised, the operator of the entire logistics system that involves moving goods through Nicaragua's northern Caribbean could significantly improve their times.
Empresa Portuaria Quetzal has confirmed that there may be interest from private investors in financing the construction of a new pier.
The need to expand the disembarkation pier at Puerto Quetzal is not new. Now the change of government could be an opportunity for this much needed piece of modernization to be realised. Empresa Portuaria Quetzal (EPQ) (EPQ) has confirmed that the investment required ranges between $60 million and $100 million.
It is not only the port of Corozal which needs immediate promotion, there is also an urgent need to keep building port infrastructure in order to take advantage of the Canal expansion.
EDITORIAL
The opinion of entrepreneurs in the logistics sector is unanimous: the forthcoming opening of the new and expanded Panama Canal locks should be the starting point for consolidating Panama as a major logistics hub for the hemisphere.