Guayaquil, October 9, 2020. Terminal Portuario de Guayaquil (TPG), a subsidiary of SAAM Puertos, held a ceremony to inaugurate several port upgrades, including an expanded dock, additional dredging and reinforced infrastructure and equipment.
Held as part of festivities to commemorate Guayaquil’s bicentennial, the activity was led by Ecuador’s Transportation Minister, Gabriel Martínez, who highlighted, “The 660-meter dock expansion at Terminal Portuaria de Guayaquil gives Ecuador competitive potential to be on par with regional and global port growth. Investments like these are possible when the government creates the right conditions and stops viewing the private sector as an adversary and sees it as complementary and a key component of the country’s economic development.”
The CEO of TPG, LuisEnrique Navas, also celebrated the milestone for the terminal. “Times are tough for the world, but we know that foreign trade drives recovery and our terminal wants to place itself at the service of foreign trade, better supporting the entire logistics chain with a modern, efficient and safe offering. This is good news for the entire country and is the result of our team’s effort and coordination with authorities, which we would particularly like to thank today,” he affirmed.
The modernization project began during the first quarter of 2019 and required a total investment of more than US$ 16 million. It involved expanding the dock from 480 to 660 meters and installing two dolphin moorings 60 meters from the northern and southern docks, respectively, to facilitate berthing of longer vessels. In addition, dredging work also concluded, bringing the access channel to a depth of 13.7 meters in low tide, and the terminal incorporated seven state-of-the-art reach stackers and five heavy duty trucks.
The ceremony took place on the same day as “Puerto de Luz”, an event to illuminate all port terminals in Guayaquil with light blue and white lights. Minister Martínez turned on the lights at TPG in honor of the men and women who serve their country in the port sector, which continued working 24/7 throughout the entire pandemic to keep Ecuador running smoothly.
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Terminal Portuario de Guayaquil (TPG), a subsidiary of SAAM, is a private port serving Ecuador’s foreign trade industry and specializing in the country’s fruit industry and containerized cargo.
