Gallery: PSA Panama International Terminal Expansion Kicks Off

Panama has taken another firm step toward boosting its capacity as an international transhipment hub with the groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of the expansion of PSA Panama International Terminal on the west bank of the Pacific Panama Canal entrance.

The ceremony was hosted by the PSA Panama International Terminal (PPIT), which is investing over USD 400 million in the expansion of its container terminal.

The new terminal will have 11 quay cranes with a maximum outreach of 24 rows and over 1.1 km of berth.

In addition to the 8 quay cranes, the terminal will feature 12 rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs), 9 rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs), 52 prime movers and 3 empty container handlers.

The expansion is targeted to be ready for operations before the end of 2016, in conjunction with the commercial opening of the expanded Panama Canal.

Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez, who attended the ceremony to inaugurate the works, said this is the first world-class port infrastructure established with the aim of attracting new cargo from Asia to the west coast of America, using Panama as a transshipment center to meet growing demand of global shipping lines.

Rodriguez voiced continuous support to PSA Panama International in bringing the project to successful closure and thus developing state of the art facilities to capable of handling 18,000 TEU container ships.

“PSA Panama expansion the project opens up new logistics and maritime opportunities for the west bank of the Panama Canal Pacific, making this an important part of the future of Panama and its national logistics sector,” said PSA Panama general manager Alessandro Cassinelli.

“Vessels of up to 12,500 teu will ply the Asia-US East Coast routes and be able to use Panama’s Pacific coast as a transhipment hub for the West Coast of South and Central America. Vessels of 4,000 teu can then serve Ecuador, Peru and Chile, Guatemala and Costa Rica on a weekly schedule via Panama. This allows shipping lines to benefit from economies of scale in operating across the Pacific and along the South American Coast. PSA Panama will provide sufficient capacity to allow lines to build a hub strategy,” added PSA head of Latin America Enno Koll.