Guayaquil Dredging Pays Off

Terminal Portuario Guayaquil (TPG) achieved a record in Ecuadorian and regional port history on January 17 by welcoming the largest vessel to ever dock at a Latin American port and inaugurating the recently completed works to deepen the sea and estuary access channels that connect the sea buoy with the port terminals. 

Commenting the latest milestones, TPG CEO Luisenrique Navas said: “The modernization work was key to the port receiving a vessel of this size. We invested $25 million, which prepared us to operate with the new dredging, the deepened berth, cranes and other works.”

“Our terminal represents 40% of Ecuador’s throughput of import and export containers and moves an average of 16,500 TEUs each week. Therefore, what we are inaugurating today will, without a doubt, have a major impact on the Ecuadorian port system.”

The dredging work was completed by Canal Guayaquil, a subsidiary of the Luxembourg based company Jan De Nul, which will maintain the channel for the next 24 years.

Under the project, they dredged the 92-kilometer channel and eliminated a rocky area known as Los Goles, which was an obstacle for ships.

The channel was deepened from 9,5 meters to 12,5 meters or 13 meters, depending on the tides.