APM Terminals Moín inaugurated, aims to turn Costa Rica into Central American shipping leader

Costa Rica inaugurated its new cargo terminal in Limón on Thursday which will turn the country into the Central American leader in port connectivity and will allow for receiving of larger ships than those that can cross the Panama Canal, said those responsible for the work.

The container terminal of Moín, in the Caribbean city of Limón, was built by the Dutch APM Terminals with an investment of $1 billion. The company will be in charge of the administration of the port for the next 30 years.

“My message is one of optimism, because the container terminal is a reality,” said President Carlos Alvarado when participating in the inauguration of the new port, considered the most modern in Central America.

The president insisted on the need to accompany the new infrastructure with other projects that will take advantage of the benefits offered, such as the extension of Route 32, which connects Limón with San José, and the construction of an electric railroad for the Caribbean.

“Being leaders of connectivity in the region means that we have better conditions for moving merchandise and receiving larger ships,” said Kenneth Waugh, director of the terminal.

He specified that the new port will be able to receive super- or post-Panamax vessels, with a capacity of up to 13,000 standard-size containers.

With this, Waugh said, Costa Rica will be able to receive large vessels from Asia with merchandise for other Central American countries that do not have the capacity to receive ships of that size.

Construction on the Caribbean terminal began in 2016 in a public-private partnership and was a priority infrastructure project for the Central American country.

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