APM Terminals’ Moin Container Terminal (MCT) in Costa Rica has been granted permission by the National Council of Concessions (CNC) to start commercial operations at its first deep-sea berth. This is a key step for the terminal, as it allows to transfer all commercial container ships currently serviced at Puerto Limon and Puerto Moin to the MCT.
This transfer will take place once Phase 1 of the new facility is put into operation in February 2019. Phase 1 includes two berths and an area of 40 hectares.
Meanwhile, the first ship to arrive at the Moin Container Terminal was CAP BEATRICE on 27 October, followed this week by Hamburg Sud’s Polar Mexico containership, with a capacity of 3,947 TEU, arriving from Panama. 70% of the cargo loaded onto the ship will consist of bananas and pineapples, from Del Monte and Fyffes companies, destined for Northern Europe.
Starting with this weekly service, the number of ships served will be gradually increasing until the project is completed and MCT is officially inaugurated in February 2019.
“The authorization from CNC to start receiving commercial vessels, represents a significant change in maritime cargo handling logistics in Costa Rica and a huge leap towards improving national competitiveness,” said Kenneth Waugh, Managing Director of APM Terminals Moin.
At full development, MCT, which is being currently developed on an artificial island off the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, will cover around 80 hectares and will have a 1,500m quay with the draft of 16m. The terminal will be equipped with 39 electric container cranes and six Super-Post Panamax STS cranes, and will be capable of handling container ships of up to 8,500 TEU.
“Thanks to the Moin Container Terminal, we will no longer be a port for small boats that require merchandise to be transferred to reach their final destination, but a port that is able to receive today’s largest container ships with direct connections and reliable intermodal links to key markets,” Waugh explained.
According to the most recent data from the World Economic Forum, Costa Rica ranks #109 today out of 140 countries in the global port infrastructure index. However, projections suggest that with the start of operations at MCT, Costa Rica will become Latin America’s port leader, informs APMT.