Yilport begins deepening Puerto Bolivar

Turkey-based Yilport Holding has started the first phase of dredging the channel to Ecuador’s marine terminal, which it took over in March 2017.    Turkey-based Yilport Holding has started the first phase of dredging the channel to Ecuador’s Puerto Bolivar marine terminal.
   Yilport took over the port facilities in March 2017 and immediately initiated infrastructure investments.
   The terminal operator said the first phase of dredging started this month and a trailing suction hopper dredger is currently “working around the clock.” This work will be completed in May.
   The draft in the ship channel to the port was as shallow as 27 feet in places. Yilport is flattening the channel bottom to about 32 feet. 
   In addition, Yilport will dredge four of Puerto Bolivar’s existing piers to about 40 feet deep, and a new 1,300-foot-long berth, which is currently under construction, will be dredged to 47 feet.
   Yilport said the second phase of its dredging at Puerto Bolivar will start during the last quarter of this year and will be finished in May 2019, with a final draft of 47 feet in the port’s access channel. 
   Yilport’s activities at Puerto Bolivar are part of a 50-year concession, in which the company will invest up to $750 million in the port’s marine terminal infrastructure. During the first phase of development, which is expected to take three years, Yilport said it will spend about $230 million on activities such as dredging, warehouse construction, and terminal equipment.