NORTH AMERICA

New deepsea port for Ecuador

20 years ago

The International Port Alliance (Alinport) is promoting the creation of a new deep seaport at Posorja in Ecuador that will be able to accommodate at least panamax size container vessels. Ships of 3,000 teu or larger cannot currently access the countrys leading port of Guayquil, because its access channel is just nine metres deep, but at least 12 metres is necessary for panamax vessels. As a result, the largest visitors are limited to around 800 teu.

This new project rivals that proposed by HPH for Manta, although only one of the two ports will eventually be built.The aim is to create a transhipment hub for Latin America’s West Coast, a status also being sought by ports in Peru and Colombia. Alinport was constituted on the July 17 with a capital of $1m, all of which has been put forward by Spanish investors.

The port itself will be developed in three phases at a total cost of $450m. Around 80 hectares of land is available in Posorja, with the land available for the project having alongside draught of between 10 and 14 metres.