Manta

“There are a number of alternatives permitted by the Ecuadorian legal framework to continue with the [port’s modernisation] process that are being analysed by APM executives,” she said. Development must continue “in order to maintain an adequate level of competitiveness in Latin America’s west coast shipping market”, she added.

Ms Fernandez comments come days after it was announced that Ecuador’s government will decide in about three months whether it will return its Pacific Manta port to state hands or grant a private company a concession to manage it.

Manta Port Authority took over the port terminal on February 28 after Terminales Internacionales de Ecuador SA, or TIDE, a local unit of conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, abandoned its concession. TIDE argued the port authority wanted to change its contract, while the government authority accused the company of failing to meet the contract’s investment and capacity terms.