Iquique lacks adequate infrastructure

It noted that stevedoring and cargo handling areas were not sufficiently well equipped to process even 1,000 containers a day. Indeed, the low level of existing port traffic is actually making the system costlier to use.

While the region surrounding the Puerto de Iquique port has grown, the same could not be said for the port, and this was true for both draft and operating areas. Worse still, for around 70 days a year, the port is actually closed to traffic because of high tides.

However, the criticisms have been dismissed by the port authority, which said nobody had asked it anything and that the report seems to have been drawn up by somebody sitting at a desk.