After months of delays, work on the construction of APM Terminals’ Moín Terminal in Costa Rica could get underway by the end of the year, according to Paul Gallie, managing director of the project.
Speaking to BNamericas, Gallie said: “the project has suffered from bureaucratic delays, but we seem to have got over those issues and are on track to start construction by the end of the year”.
Having secured the concession to build and operate the port in 2011, the Dutch firm was due to begin construction in 2013 but the project has been beset by delays caused by environmental concerns and legal challenges as to its validity.
Gallie said the scheme is waiting for final approval of its environmental licence, which he hopes will be in place by the end of October. The environmental licence and building a works access road - already 90% complete - are the last remaining conditions before starting construction.
The new Moin Container Terminal will have an initial annual throughput of 1.3m TEUs, rising to 2.7m TEUs at full build-out. With an eventual depth of 18 meters, it will be able to accommodate the 12,000 TEU vessels that will pass through the widened Panama Canal once the lock expansion project has been completed in 2015. At present, the port is limited to vessels of 2,500 TEU capacity.
“The terminal will primarily be a gateway terminal to handle Costa Rica's increasing containerised exports and imports, primarily tropical fruit,' Gallie told BNamericas.
