APM expands into Ecuador

In late October, APMT purchased a 51% shareholding in Alinport S.A., a Spanish company holding a 20-year concession granted last December by the Ecuadorian government for the construction and operation of a deepwater container port project at Posoria, near Guayaquil.

The deal followed the October 2 takeover of breakbulk and container terminal operations at Guayaquil by International Container Terminal Services and the Hutchison Port Holdings HPH) concession to build and operate a new container terminal at the Port of Manta.

According to APMT, “groundwork” at Alinport has been ongoing. Construction is slated to begin in early 2008, with operations to begin in late 2009. The first phase terminal will consist of a 450 m (1,476 foot) berth, alongside depth of 12.5 m (41 feet), yard space with rubber tire gantry (RTG) operations and ship to shore cranes and an annual capacity of 700,000 teu.