SETENA approves APM Terminals environmental license for Moin terminal project

Costa Rican environmental agency SETENA approves Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ordered by APM Terminals for the Moin terminal expansion project.    APM Terminals passed a major milestone in its Moin Container Terminal project as SETENA, the official environmental agency of the government of Costa Rica, granted formal approval to the company for its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. 
   This announcement comes after the Costa Rican government endorsed a 33-year concession for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the Terminal de Contenedores de Moín (TCM) facility in 2012. The first phase of development is scheduled for 2016, and once the project is complete, the TCM will sport five berths with an overall length of 1500 meters, covering an area of 80 hectares, and a 2.2-km breakwater with an 18-meter draft access channel.
   Developed with the support of Costa Rica’s Atlantic Coast Board of Port Administration and Economic Development (JAPDEVA), the construction of the TCM facility represents an overall investment of approximately $1 billion.
   The Puerto Limón/Moín port complex, which is currently limited to serving vessels up to a capacity of 2,500 TEUs, processed 1.05 million TEUs in 2013, making it the largest and busiest facility in Costa Rica. The country’s most important exports are pineapples, bananas, sugar and coffee. The deep-water TCM, designed for fully-cellular vessels, will increase the port’s annual throughput capacity by 1.3 million TEUs at opening, with a potential build-out of 2.7 million TEUs, according to a release from APM Terminals.
   APM Terminals Costa Rica Managing Director Captain Paul J. Gallie said of the decision: “APM Terminals is well aware of Costa Rica’s dedication to environmental protection, and consistent with our own corporate sustainability standards, we have complied with, or exceeded all environmental requirements, mindful of the local community in Limon and the people of Costa Rica.”