Costa Rica’s long-delayed plan to modernize Puerto Caldera cleared a major hurdle this week after two appeals against the contract award were rejected, allowing officials to move toward signing the new concession contract for the country’s main Pacific cargo port.
The decision confirms the award to Consorcio Sunset, the group selected for the concession to modernize Puerto Caldera’s infrastructure and equipment. The project is one of Costa Rica’s most important logistics upgrades and is expected to require an investment of more than $600 million.
Puerto Caldera handles a large share of the cargo moving through Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, including imports, exports, grains, vehicles and other goods tied directly to the national economy. Business groups have warned for years that the port’s limited capacity and aging infrastructure add delays and costs to trade.
The appeals were filed by International Container Terminal Services, Inc., known as ICTSI, which had challenged its exclusion from the bidding process and questioned the technical suitability of the winning offer. The review found that ICTSI’s financial debt level exceeded the maximum allowed under the bidding rules, leaving the company without a valid path to win the contract.
Because of that finding, the rest of ICTSI’s arguments were not reviewed in detail. The ruling leaves Consorcio Sunset as the confirmed winner and clears the way for the next administrative steps.
The immediate task now falls to the Instituto Costarricense de Puertos del Pacífico, or INCOP, which must activate the transition plan and prepare the final concession contract. The project had already been recommended for award earlier this year after Consorcio Sunset became the only bidder to meet the required technical, financial, legal, environmental and social conditions.
Consorcio Sunset is made up of Hanseatic Global Terminals-linked HGT Inversiones and APM Terminals. APM Terminals already operates Costa Rica’s main Caribbean container terminal in Moín, while HGT is connected to Hapag-Lloyd’s port business and to the current Caldera operating structure.
INCOP recently extended the existing Puerto Caldera concession until August 31, 2027, to keep the port operating while the modernization contract is completed and the transition to the new arrangement moves forward. That extension covers the current cargo and grain terminal operations, avoiding a gap in service while the country moves from the old concession model to the new long-term contract.
The modernization is expected to shape port operations for the next 30 years. Earlier project documents and public statements have presented the plan as a way to improve cargo handling, modernize equipment, reduce bottlenecks and strengthen Costa Rica’s competitiveness on the Pacific side.
The port has become a repeated pressure point for importers, exporters and shipping operators. Delays at Caldera can ripple through the economy, affecting everything from construction supplies and vehicle imports to agricultural exports and food supply chains.
For Costa Rica, the ruling does not mean construction begins immediately. The project must still pass through contract signing, transition, final design, permits, financing and phased construction. But the decision removes the main administrative obstacle that had been holding up the award.
If the process advances as planned, Puerto Caldera would move into a new concession period with a private operator responsible for both port service and major infrastructure upgrades. The challenge now is whether the country can move quickly enough to turn the legal victory into actual port improvements.
