The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) will own both the gas pipeline and the ports it plans to build, Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez clarified. He also stated that the ACP will make a financial contribution to the project, the percentage of which has not yet been defined.
One of the key issues under discussion regarding the construction of the ports and pipeline is the concession model for these terminals. Vásquez emphasized that the rules governing the ports to be built by the Canal will be different from the current port concession regulations in the country. This was a point he stressed several times during a conversation with local and foreign journalists.
Since 1979, when the reversion process began, the ports came under the authority of then the National Port Administration, now known as the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP). Ricaurte Vásquez, Administrator of the ACP, revealed that this matter is part of ongoing conversations and negotiations with the market.
Vásquez stated that the Panama Canal sees a significant opportunity in these two terminals that it wants to leverage, as it generates a higher volume of transit or prevents some of that transit from seeking a transshipment port elsewhere. "The experience of operating a port was with the Canal Commission in its time when it had Balboa and Cristóbal," the official recalled.
The ports will be located on the eastern side of the interoceanic route, in Corozal and Telfers Island, while the gas pipeline will be installed on the western side. The Canal Administrator mentioned that a possibility is that it will eventually take over the operation of the entire asset.
"We always see it from a growth perspective, but the risk also exists that if we don't make the necessary investments, part of that activity will go to another market," he expressed. He described that the higher the investment level, the longer the payback period will likely be, adding that this will depend on how good the business is.
What will happen after companies recover their investment? "If the business recovers early, and I give you an example: Petroterminal was an investment that recovered in three years; there have been examples of investments with a relatively quick recovery," said Vásquez.
Petroterminal is the company that operates an oil pipeline between Bocas del Toro and Chiriquí that transports oil to be moved to markets in Asia and the east coast of America. Both port terminals would have the same capacity to handle between 2.5 and 3 million TEUs, with a quay length of between 1,200 and 1,375 meters and a depth of nearly 56 feet.
