Puerto Morelos, Q.R. — Surveying is underway for the construction of a deep-sea port in Puerto Morelos. Iván Ferrat Mancera, representative of the Comprehensive Port Administration (Apiqroo) of the Puerto Morelos foreign trade import and export terminal, says they are looking to expand the capacity to receive large ships.
The idea, he says, is to seek private or public investment to expand the dock, which last year received 5,722 containers. The expansion projection would allow for the movement of up to 20,000 containers annually, which would be an expansion capacity of more than 200 percent of the merchandise moved by Via Martina.
Ferrat Mancera says the state has six seaports – Puerto Juárez, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos and Bacalar – none of which have the capacity to receive large ships since they are not deep draft.
The only cargo port for foreign trade in Quintana Roo is located in Puerto Morelos.
Artemio Santos Santos, the General Coordination of Advisors for the Government of Quintana Roo, says they are currently analyzing a best place.
Santos says the state does not have a deep water / draft port but with one, could take advantage of the connectivity with the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
“We do not have a deep water port. We are limited by the draft and we are looking for the characteristics in some parts of the Mexican Caribbean coast to be able to build a deep water port that will allow us to compete not only at a national level, but also with other countries,” he said.
He says having a deep water port could reduce state transportation costs by between 15 and 20 percent.
Santos says a deep water port in Quintana Roo could operate as direct competition or as a complement to the Panama Canal to detonate the south-southeast region. He says currently, the only cargo port in the state is in Puerto Morelos which handles between 10 and 12 percent of the supplies the state receives by sea.
He says the state of Quintana Roo has a high market demand, making it more feasible to move through this area.
Santos says the Institute for State Development and Financing (IDEFIN), Administración Portuaria Integral de Quintana Roo (Apiqroo) and the government of Quintana Roo are participating in the development of the project with the possibility of obtaining private and / or public resources from the federation to carry out the project.
Although there is talk of deep water port construction in the south of the state, they recognize that the greatest demand for supplies is in the north.
