The Argentine Government has conceived a plan to close the three container terminals in centrally located Puerto Nuevo by 2020 and to replace these three finger pier style terminals with one large terminal using the existing resources and land reclamation. The new terminal envisaged will be able to accommodate vessels of up to 14,000 teu with a maximum length of 365.5 metres and beam of 51.2 metres. Container handling capacity will also continue to be offered at Exolgan in Dock Sud and at the new La Plata container terminal.
The remodelling of container handling facilities in Puerto Nuevo will provide a terminal with linear quays with a landside area of 91 hectares, not much of an increase over the existing 77 hectares offered by the three terminals which has led the ITF to question whether this will provide adequate buffer space for the larger vessels expected.
The biggest issue raised, however, is the possibility of East Coast South America trades continuing to see increases in vessel size beyond 14,000 teu and consequently the implications for the proposed terminal. Interestingly, the ITF concludes: “The proposal for Puerto Nuevo is framed as a solution for the long term, but it is most likely only a solution for the short – and possibly medium – term. The rapid increase of container ship size, consolidation of the container shipping sector and rationalisation of port networks means fewer but much larger call sizes.”
It notes the real possibility of seeing 18,000 teu vessels in the future and further states: “The deepening of the access channel is envisaged, but to a depth that will only be sufficient for a few years … in addition, it is not very clear how current bottlenecks – such as waiting time in the access channel, high ship turnaround times, long container dwell times and expensive hinterland transport – will be solved with the proposed changes.”
There are many lessons in this comprehensive Paper related to effective long-term planning and co-ordination of transport resources that offer valuable insights to ports around the world.
The discussion paper on The Container Port of Buenos Aires in the Mega-Ship Era can be found at www.itf-oecd.org.
