The USD600 million container terminal will be capable of handling ships of up to 18,000 TEU with a total of four berths. Two container berths, with a depth of 16m alongside, will accommodate super post-Panamax vessels featuring eight super post-Panamax cranes (with a reach of 22 containers across).
A third quay, with a length of 1.05km, will accommodate post-Panamax vessels by two Panamax cranes. A fourth 160m berth will accommodate multi-purpose and break-bulk vessels.
Construction work will start in July and when completed in the autumn of 2014 the terminal will have an annual capacity of 2 million TEU, supported by a container yard with a capacity of storing 36,000 TEU and 800 reefer slots.
The new terminal will be built on privately owned land on the former Fort Randolph, a US Navy base that was used during World War II to prevent German submarines from entering the canal. The site is on the east side of the Atlantic canal entrance at the base of the breakwater and will be the terminal closest to the canal.
Acting under the name Panama Colon Container Port LLC, a consortium of private Asian developers, has nominated Jones Lang LaSalle as development adviser. The aim is to attract trans-shipment traffic eliminating pressure from ports on the US East Coast ports and those in the Gulf that are not able to accommodate the expected super post-Panamax vessels that will arrive through the canal after 2014.
Currently the consortium is in final negotiations with one of the largest global terminal operators to operate the 92-acre terminal after it is completed in 2014. The other three terminals in Colon are already expanding their capacity to handle larger vessels.