Construction of the new container terminal in the Caribbean port of Moín in Limón province is 27 percent completed, according to a report issued Friday during an inspection by President Luis Guillermo Solís and some of his ministers.
The new terminal is set to quadruple the Moín port’s current capacity, allowing for an estimated 2.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) annually by 2030, according to the project’s plan.
When finished, the new docks will be able to receive ships more than three times bigger than the current docks are able to receive. The project is also expected to ease the high costs the country incurs when cargo ships are stuck waiting to unload onto the current port’s limited docks.
According to the timetable for the $1 billion project, the terminal’s first berth should be operational by September 2017 and the second is to open in January 2018.
When those first two berths are operational, there will still be two more stages to go to complete the project, which was granted in a private bid to Dutch company APM Terminals.
Solís and his entourage inspected the artificial island being built to house the terminal using 3.7 million cubic meters of dredged material. The island’s current surface is some 10 hectares; it is expected to spread over 40 hectares at the end of the project.
To government is currently in the bidding process to choose the company that will build the last stretch of road to the new container terminal. The chosen company will be responsible for the design and construction of a 2.1 kilometer road connecting the port with Route 32, the main road between Limón and the Central Valley.
The first two lanes of the road are scheduled to be ready by July 31, 2017 and the other two by November 30.
Eighty percent of Costa Rica’s exports pass through Limón ports, according to the Foreign Trade Ministry.
Construction of the Moín deep water port will create an estimated 700 jobs, many of which are to be filled by Limón residents.
Limón residents hope the project gives a major boost to the economy of Costa Rica’s most depressed province.
Watch a video of the project’s current status:
https://www.facebook.com/CasaPresidencial/videos/1325605504132606/
Tanker dock
Solís also visited the construction of a new tanker terminal in Moín that, according to a report from the National Oil Refinery (RECOPE), is 83 percent complete. The $96 million project originally was scheduled for completion by the end of last year.
RECOPE hopes the new dock will allow it to increase its capacity to store and distribute fuel. The agency also expects the tanker dock to improve its efficiency by cutting operating costs, as the project will double its RECOPE’s docking capacity and freight costs.
The new terminal will be able to receive ships up to 80,000 tons, equivalent to half a million barrels, RECOPE reported.
Construction of the new tanker dock was awarded in a public bid to a private consortium formed by Mexico’s ICA and Tico company MECO.
