THE subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) in Ecuador has received government approval to handle “mega vessels,” strengthening its market position as the main trading gateway in the entire South American nation.
Enrique K. Razon Jr., who chairs the Filipino company, said his group has received the nod of the Ecuadorian Ministry of Transport and Public Works’s nod to accommodate vessels up to 305 meters in length at the Port of Guayaquil’s Berths 2 and 3.
With this, Contecon Guayaquil SA (CGSA), the company’s subsidiary in Ecuador, becomes the first and only terminal in the South American country with the capacity to serve two mega vessels at the same time, resulting in higher efficiency and productivity levels.
“Our public-private partnership in the Port of Guayaquil is one of the most successful concessions in our portfolio. The government’s trust, through their approval for CGSA to handle mega vessels, speaks of our excellent track record in operating the port,” Razon said.
It has been more than a decade since ICTSI made its foray into the Ecuadorian market.
“In these facilities, the Contecon concessionaire invested $10 million. This amount is part of the $325 million they pledged to invest 20 years up to 2027 on Port Authority grounds. However, we should highlight that, in these 10 years, Contecon has already invested $360 million—$35 million more than expected,” Ecuador President Lenin Moreno said.
With a berth line of 1,627 meters and a maximum controlling depth 12.5 meters, CGSA is equipped with six quay cranes and four mobile harbor cranes that can accommodate nine vessels at one time depending on the size of the vessels.
Located near Ecuador’s main export zones, the 115.4-hectare terminal has a handling capacity of up to 1.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units annually.
As the preferred port of call in Ecuador, CGSA is designed to easily facilitate the country’s leading export—bananas—with its 3,627-plug reefer facility and dedicated storage and consolidation areas for the commodity.
To date, ICTSI is the largest port operator in Latin America with two concessions in Mexico and a project each in Ecuador, Honduras, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina.
