NORTH AMERICA

Cartagena seeking regional hub status

20 years ago

The Colombian port of Cartagena handled 549,860TEU last year and is anticipating growth in 2006 of more than 150,000 additional containers. This is due to the arrival, in March, of a new Asia-Caribbean service operated by Maersk with 5,000TEU vessels.

Cartagena - new quay, cranes and yard equipment are planned

During the first ten months of fiscal year 2006, the GPA handled 1,688,719TEU, a 15.4 per cent increase over the same period last year.

As a means of converting Cartagena into a regional hub, the port authority is to invest $350 million over the medium term on expanding existing infrastructure. This will result in the creation of 1100 metres of quay capable of accommodating container vessels of up to 8000TEU.

Twelve quayside gantry cranes will also be acquired, along with 100 terminal tractors. A 40,000 square metre container stacking yard is also envisaged. These measures, which should be in place by 2015, will allow the port to handle 2.5 million TEU annually.