Four operators to compete to build terminal adjacent to Panama Canal

Three of the four pre-qualified port terminal operators that will bid for control of the Corozal Container Terminal have ties to container shipping giants Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), and CMA CGM.    Four port operators have been pre-qualified in a competition to design, develop, finance, construct, operate and maintain the Corozal Container Terminal adjacent to the Panama Canal.They will be invited to respond to a tender for the new terminal.
   The four pre-qualified companies are: APM Terminals, part of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group; Terminal Link, part of the CMA CGM Group; and Terminal Investment Ltd., affiliated with Mediterranean Shipping Co.; and PSA International.
   Three other companies that had expressed interest were not prequalified: Ports America, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and Manzanillo International Terminal.
   “The result of this process demonstrates the potential of Corozal Port and especially the confidence of the leading port operators in the world,” Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano said. “The new port is certain to enhance the Canal’s offering and revenue base.”
   The Corozal Container Terminal will be located at the Pacific entrance of the waterway, and is intended to be a common user container transshipment terminal which will distribute cargo to the region, including the West Coast of South America, Central America and the Caribbean. It will provide services to reposition empty containers and handle local cargo, and is the first of several planned projects to enhance the country’s logistics capacity.
   Among the project’s requirements, is the need to develop a “green” terminal to limit impact on the environment. The planned terminal would feature anti-noise perimeter walls and electrical devices producing zero carbon emissions, along with a number of other elements recommended by an environmental impact study.