The development of port infrastructure, whether expanding, modernizing, or starting, has been a vital issue in recent years. As maritime trade and logistics become more integrated every day, and ports move towards a more open operating business model, the industry is witnessing a shift in trends driving infrastructure development projects: from being bigger to being greener, smarter, and better connected.

The Americas has seen a number of significant port infrastructure projects, for example, the TiL Group (part of MSC), is investing $1.4 billion in the development of the new Panama Colon Container Port (PCCP) in partnership with Notarc Management Group., located on the Caribbean coast of Panama in the province of Colon. Meanwhile, on the west coast of South America, and despite political instability, Peru continues to lead the infrastructure development race with the new Port of Chancay developed by COSCO Shipping approaching its 2024 completion date, as well as the expansion of the north and south piers of the Port of Callao, executed by APM Terminals and DP World, respectively.

Despite these developments, the region must articulate efforts to integrate the continent's ports into a community that allows the flow of intraregional and interregional cargo.

A commendable effort in this regard is the Mobility and Logistics Master Plan 2035 that the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) has developed, which consists of a series of integrated logistics corridors in Central America with the objective of making it more attractive and competitive.

The Plan is a visionary and innovative tool of infrastructure planning that seeks to respond to one of the most evident challenges in the economic integration agenda: turn the Central American region into a logistical HUB for the movement of people and goods through the implementation of a portfolio of projects organized into six strategic areas: land, air, maritime, port, rail, urban and coordinated border management.

To explain about this, MundoMaritimo interviewed Carlos Moreno, Director of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Logistics at SIECA, who spoke to us about the Central American need to develop infrastructure for maritime transport.

"The use of a maritime mean of transportation is not an option, it is a necessity. There is an excessive saturation of the road network and currently, 95% of all cargo moving in Central America moves by road. This means enormous wear and tear on the road network; the Central American governments invest $900 million dollars every year to try to maintain it, and there are 9.5 million vehicles circulating in this network, where only 4% of the vehicle fleet is collective transportation, the rest are private vehicles. This network is oversaturated", he commented.

He added that "the need to look for alternatives to alleviate this congestion is imperative. It is therefore necessary to look for mechanisms to complement land transportation with maritime transportation, not to displace, but to complement".

The Regional Master Plan for Mobility and Logistics 2035 is a guiding tool that defines in short, medium, and long terms, the vision, objectives, and actions of all the main modes of transportation in Central America. The main objective of this plan is to strengthen and modernize 11 strategic corridors through structured strategies, that will be implemented in phases and levels. It also includes the proposed financing and implementation mechanism until 2035.

“Just the fact that a percentage of the ground transportation network could shift to maritime means will represent a great improvement in the operating conditions of Central America," he pointed out.  

Another of the strategies that should be implemented in the region, according to Mr. Moreno, is the reactivation of the railway system. Of the 2,500 km of railroads, only 256 km are in operation, this means that they only operate in Costa Rica, Panama, and a few kilometers in Honduras.

"The development of maritime and rail transportation to clear the roads is essential, even when there are problems of political nature or interruption of passage through some countries, sooner or later, the need to move cargo more efficiently will be required",  he concluded.