All of these ports, including Almirante, Balboa, Colon and Cristobal, saw some mixed results in their container throughput, with growth dragged down by the economic crisis facing its main trading partners as well as internal problems. On the Atlantic side, at Colon – the “home” to four container terminals including Manzanillo International Terminals (operated by SSA Marine), Colon Container Terminal (operated by Evergreen), Panama Ports Co (operated by Hutchison Whampoa) and Colon Port Terminal – mixed results were recorded. Evergreen’s Colon Container Terminal (CCT) saw container volumes rise by 57.1% to 789,663 TEUs due to the return of several services. Last year, CCT was upgraded in order to dock 14,000 TEU vessels and raise terminal capacity from 1.5 to 2 million TEUs. The expansion has added a fourth berth with 16.5m depth alongside and a quay of 640m, equipped with three gantry cranes able to handle ships with 23 rows of containers. Future plans call for a 2.4 million TEU capacity terminal by lengthening the quay to 780m in order to dock two 12,000-14,000 TEU ships simultaneously. The 74-hectare Colon Container Terminal serves the regional markets of the Caribbean, and North, South and Central America with shipments mainly originating in the Far East. Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) is a multi-user, private-owned and operated container and ro-ro cargo trans-shipment hub located at the Northern entrance of the Panama Canal. In 2015, the terminal handled 1,974,979 TEUs – a 5% decrease compared to 2014. Being mostly a trans-shipment terminal, economic and political situations have a direct impact on the terminal throughput. Estimates for 2016 show 0% growth based on the economic conditions of Asia and South America. In October 2015, Manzanillo International Terminal, the largest terminal in Colon and located on the Atlantic Coast of Panama, took delivery of four new ZPMC container cranes – the biggest container cranes ever received for a container terminal in Panama and the Caribbean. The environmentally-friendly cranes are capable of handling the biggest vessels in the world (with 25 container rows on deck) and are ready for operation from a remote control station. Upon commission, a total of 11 post-Panamax and 8 super post-Panamax container cranes will be lined up along MIT’s 2km container quay. The cranes are part of MIT’s new USD270 million expansion plan which included the deployment of the first six Automatic Stacking Cranes in Latin America back in June 2015. When completed, it will increase MIT’s yearly handling capacity to 4 million TEUs. Other investments completed in 2015 include the construction of a 400m container berth and dredging to 16.5m alongside two neo-panamax berths, turning basin and access channel. The terminal is served by Panama Canal Railway Company, connecting cargo to and from the port in the Pacific coast of Panama. MIT also offers a strategically placed logistics park, which serves multinational companies by providing commercial facilities for cargo sorting, grading, packing and re-packing, labeling, storage, transit and assembly. This new model of logistics operations created in Panama integrates all the benefits of Colon Free Zone activities with a full multimodal system interface that includes ocean, air and rail facilities. MIT’s adjacent rail facilities and logistics park, along with its modern infrastructure, makes it the leading distribution and logistics hub of the region. Cristobal’s container throughput, the terminal operated by Hutchison’s Panama Ports, was up to 812,783 TEUs. On the Pacific side, container volume at Panama Ports Co’s Balboa dropped by 4.9% to 3.08 million TEUs and PSA-Panama’s throughput also decreased by 6.9% to 216,012 TEUs.
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
