International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has ramped up spending in Ecuador, where it runs the Contecon Guayaquil SA (CGSA).
The global container port operator, controlled by Filipino billionaire Enrique Razon Jr., has already spent about $360 million on the project over a decade.
This is above the $325 million it had pledged to invest over a 20-year period through 2027.
“Our public-private partnership in the Port of Guayaquil is one of the most successful concessions in our portfolio. The government’s thrust, through its approval for CGSA to handle mega vessels, speaks of our excellent track record in operating the port. It represents the harmonious relationships we have with our regulators, shipping line clients, port stakeholders and our employees,” Razon, ICTSI chair and president, said in a statement.
ICTSI noted that a fresh round of investments meant that CGSA could now handle mega vessels.
It said the Ecuadorian Ministry of Transport and Public Works, through the Subsecretary of Ports and Maritime Transportation, recently gave its green light for CGSA to accommodate ships of up to 305 meters in length at the Port of Guayaquil’s Berths 2 and 3.
CGSA is equipped with six quay cranes and four mobile harbor cranes which can accommodate nine vessels at one time depending on the size of the vessels.
Located near Ecuador’s main export zones, the 115.4-hectare terminal has a handling capacity of up to 1.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) annually.
CGSA, said to be the preferred port call in Ecuador, is designed to easily facilitate the country’s leading export—bananas—with its 3,627-plug reefer facility and dedicated storage and consolidation areas for the commodity.
To date, ICTSI is the largest port operator in Latin America with two concessions in Mexico and a project each in Ecuador, Honduras, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina.