Currently, transporting goods by sea between Central American countries can increase freight costs by at least 60% compared to the land option, which represents an obstacle to changing the way goods are transferred in the region.
As a result of the closure of the Penas Blancas customs crossing, on the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, some businessmen in the region had to resort to the sea route in order to deliver their orders.
After the Quetzal Port Company of Guatemala and the Port of Chiapas, Mexico, signed an agreement for strategic commercial promotion, it is expected that in May the short sea route will begin to operate.
The potential offered by the Port of Chiapas as a logistic node for commercial exchange from and to Central America, as well as with other international markets, makes it a strategic place for the promotion of the Short Sea Shipping (SSS) project with Guatemala and eventually with other Mesoamerican countries, informed the Mexican Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT).
From September 27 to 29, companies from the sector will be meeting to discuss issues such as bunkering and environmental impact, ports and shipping lines, cargo transportation and the auxiliary maritime industry.
From a statement issued by the Maritime Chamber of Panama:
The Maritime Chamber of Panama, for the education and updating of the maritime, port and logistics sector of our country, will be holding, from September 27 to 29, the First Annual Maritime Conference of Panama entitled "The Next 100 Years" within the framework of the 100 year anniversary of Panamanian ship registration.
A year after the announcement, the project to establish a marine cargo ferry between El Salvador and Costa Rica remains on paper.
Although it had been announced that the service would begin in late July 2016, it seems that the idea of a ferry transporting goods between the ports of Costa Rica and El Salvador at a base cost of $800 will not happen, at least for now.
The shipping company has drawn attention to the impact that the Canal expansion will have on its operations noting that there are still only a few ports that can receive Post Panamax vessels.
The two routes that the Danish shipping company Maersk Line ceased to operate in 2013 were of great importance for Latin America, whose operations account for 10% of the company's total sales worldwide.
In order to analyze the impact that Panama Canal expansion will have on this sector it is necessary to dissect the current numbers on movement and transshipment of containers in Latin America.
From a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC):
Trade in container ports in the region up 1.3% in 2014
Ranking updated by USI / ECLAC confirms the slowdown in foreign trade shown by the container terminals in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years. The movement of containerized cargo at ports in Latin America and the Caribbean grew by 1.3% in 2014, according to data released today by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). This year's ranking of movements in container ports confirms high heterogeneity: the west coast of South America is up (5.3%), Mexico (4.0%) and Central America (3.4%), but the East Coast of South America (-2.2%) and the Caribbean (-8.2%) are down.
Shipping companies are preparing to increase by between 10% and 12% the rates for maritime transport from Guatemala to the United States.
These increases have yet to be confirmed by the Federal Maritime Commission of the United States, explained Rolando Coronado, president of the Shipping Association of Guatemala, but the export sector predicts a deterioration in competitiveness.
In order to reduce the average age of the fleet the Maritime Authority is offering discounts until December 2016 of up to 100% on the rate of registration of new vessels.
Resolution 106-67-DGMM published in La Gaceta:
FIRST: grant a waiver which is additional to the discounts provided for in the Act No. 57 of August 6, 2008 based on the Article 8. of up to one hundred percent (100%) on all those newly built vessels that fall under the Panamanian Merchant Marine from the effective date of this Resolution until December 31, 2016, from the following fees and charges;
From June 16th to 19th representatives from the region's port industry will be meeting in Panama at the XXXVII Port Meeting of the Central American Isthmus.
From the website of the Central American Commission on Maritime Transport (COCATRAM):
Representatives from the Central American Commission on Maritime Transport (COCATRAM) will be meeting in Panama from the 16th to 19th of June to participate in the XXXVII Port Meeting of the Central American Isthmus (REPICA).
The Mexican company Transportes Marítimos Lamol will start operating the US - Nicaragua route, passing through the Escondido River to get to the Port of Arlen Siu, in the south-central part of the country.
The new route for TML Liners will be used by ships carrying 80 containers with a capacity of 3000 tons of cargo, which will set sail from Nicaragua to the United States, making a stop in Panama.
Quetzal Port Company is offering a special rate with discounts up to 50% for ships carrying cargo whose origin and destination is Central America.
This project seeks to promote short sea shipping between the ports of Quetzal in Guatemala, Acajutla in El Salvador, Corinth in Nicaragua and Caldera in Costa Rica, and in this way reduce land freight traffic between countries in the region.
Discounts of up to 35% on the registration fee and the annual consular fee will be granted to the ships registered under the Panamanian flag.
Through a resolution published in the Official Newspaper La Gaceta, the Directorate General of Merchant Marine Services has been authorized to grant discounts, additional to those contained in the legislation, to those who register ships under the Panamanian flag.
A European group is negotiating the operation of the maritime route between Colon and Cartagena using a ship with capacity for 1,500 passengers, 200 cars and 50 containers.
Prensa.com reports: "In the absence of a land connection between the two countries, and which would link South America with the rest of the continent, the ferry between Colon and Cartagena is a project that has attracted entrepreneurs in the recent past, but without any great results" .
A feasibility study indicates that the region has economic and port potential to develop a system of short sea shipping.
After evaluating 49 ports with international traffic in the region, a feasibility study prepared by the Mesoamerica Project concluded that no large investments in access infrastructure are needed in order for ports to boost regional shipping.
A Spanish shipping company is to start operations by the end of the year with a ship capable of carrying passengers, light vehicles and containers.
ElSalvador.com reports that "the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA) confirmed that in late November it will close an agreement with the Spanish company Naviera del Odiel to start of operations of a ferry that will connect the Port of La Union to Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua. "