The existing Moin-Limón port has no fixed cranes on the quay and a draught of only 9 meters. It is currently only capable of handling tiny, 2,500 TEU ships. In short, this means less space on board each vessel for cargo and slower container operations. The new port will have six new ship-to-shore cranes, a 16-meter draught and 600 meters of quay so that it can handle 13,000 TEU ships, roughly the maximum size able to pass through the newly expanded Panama Canal, when the need arises. The port is being designed with Costa Rica’s fresh exports in mind: more than 60% of the terminal’s capacity will be devoted to refrigerated container handling. When it opens in 2018, APM Terminals Moin will be ready for vessels up to three times the size of those currently calling at the port.
“The reefer volumes in Costa Rica and Latin America in general are going to grow as ports like Moin enable the bigger ships to call them. We expect volumes to double within the next 15 years. With better equipment and operations we can get much larger volumes in and out of Moin much faster – in hours, not days as is the case today,” says Roberto Madrigal, Sales Manager for Maersk Line in Costa Rica.
“For exporters of fresh fruit, time is critical and the increase in port efficiency will be of huge benefit to them.”
New Moin Port a boon for Costa Rican trade
