From July 25 to 28 representatives from the port industry in the region will be meeting in Belize at the XXXIX Port Meeting of the Central American Isthmus.
At the event, to be held at the Best Westerm Biltmore Plaza Hotel in Belize, the main discussion panels will address current issues such as the Cruise Industry, Mobility and Logistics Policy in Central America, Strengthening Environmental Port Management in Central America, Multilateral Agreement And Safety, Port Security and Protection, Gross Verified Mass (GVM), Climate Change and the Role of Women in the Port Industry, among others.
The preliminary results have been released from a feasibility study on the development of a Short Sea Shipping service in Mesoamerica.
As part of this project, a feasibility study was conducted over the last 12 months, which assessed the movement of cargo from ports with international traffic in the 49 countries that make up the Mesoamerican block (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic).
Six consortiums have expressed an interest in carrying out a feasibility study of the development of short-distance maritime transport.
The Meso-american short-distance maritime transport feasibility study seeks to define a strategy for promoting the development and modernization of maritime transport in the area for travel over short distances.
The Panamanian Martime Authority received expressions of interest in the project from several engineering, transport and project management consortiums: Nathan Associates Inc. in association with Spim SL y Maritime & Logistics Consulting Group S.A.; Abarloa 2 A.I.E.; Técnica y Proyectos S.A. and IRITEC engineers; Louis Berger International Inc; Alatec Ingenieros Consultores y Arquitectos, S.A. and Inecon, Ingenieros y Economistas Consultores, S.A.
The ports of Quetzal in the Pacific and Santo Tomás de Castilla in the Atlantic will improve their facilities by 2012.
According to information provided by the Central American Commission for Maritime Transport (Cocatram), there will be four new terminals in Santo Tomás de Castilla by this date as well as more industrial parks. The works will generate three thousand new jobs.
Developing the region's short distance cargo and passenger sea travel could lower costs and favor agricultural exports.
Central America's short distance maritime transport project (TMCD, Spanish Acronym) is advancing. Feasibility studies have determined that with little investment, the 49 ports located in Central America and Mexico, "could be adapted for short distance passenger and cargo transportation, as it is done in Europe".
Port authorities from Central America and the Dominican Republic are studying plans to cut costs of cargo handling.
The proposal is currently under review at a meeting in Nicaragua of Central American port officials who fear that high handling charges could eat into the benefits to be gained from a trade association with the European Union.
"By comparison with the costs of the cargo itself, handling costs in Central America are very high," said Carlos González De la Lastra, president of the Central American Commission of Maritime Transport (Cocatram).