Buenaventura, Colombia.–A new event confirms Buenaventura as a strategic port city for Colombia and its foreign trade.
Coming from Asia, the large-scale vessel, APL Esplanade, recently arrived at Puerto Aguadulce with a capacity of 13,892 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs).
After Colombia, its journey continues to other ports in South America.
Puerto Aguadulce is a latest generation container terminal, which began operations in November 2016, achieving high standards of productivity, safety and security in all its operations.
Its two major shareholders are two of the worldӼs leading port operators: International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) of the Philippines and PSA of Singapore.
With a length of 369 meters, equivalent to approximately four professional soccer fields and a width of 51 meters, APL Esplanade has the largest physical dimensions to call at any Colombian terminal.
The event highlights the importance, capacity and competitiveness of Buenaventura Port, located close to Colombia’s major urban areas such as Bogotá, Medellín and Cali.
Miguel Abisambra, Puerto Aguadulce general manager, said the shipping companies continue to build larger and larger capacity vessels.
“For Puerto Aguadulce, receiving this type of vessel is an honor and a great responsibility.
We work continuously under our vision of being a strategic ally of the Colombian economy,” Abisambra said.
At the end of last year, Abisambra said they received what is now, after APL Esplanade, the second largest capacity container vessel that has docked in the country.
“These calls confirm that Puerto Aguadulce is a terminal with global service standards, technology, infrastructure and security,” Abisambra said.
APL Esplanade sails on the CMA CGM group’s Asia Central South America (ACSA1) service, which links East Asia with Central and South America.
CMA CGM is a French shipping and container transport company and one of the worldӼs leading companies in container transport, operating more than 200 sea routes between 400 ports in 150 countries.
PSA, ICTSI’s co-operator for Puerto Aguadulce, is a leading global port group and a trusted partner to cargo stakeholders around the world.
With flagship operations in Singapore and Antwerp, PSA’s portfolio comprises a network of over 50 coastal, rail and inland terminals in 19 countries.
Headquartered and established in 1988 in Manila, Philippines, ICTSI is in the business of port development, management and operations.
As an independent business with no shipping, logistics or consignee-related interests, ICTSI works and transacts transparently with any stakeholder in the port community.
ICTSI’s portfolio of terminals and projects spans developed and emerging market economies in the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
