Barranquilla receives the deepest vessel in its history

With LOA of 156 m and a 24 m beam, the Gatun was originally scheduled to discharge its cargo of 15,706 tons of steel from Veracruz, Mexico at the Las Flores anchorage but was unable to do so because of problems with one of its anchors.

The only remaining option was for Gatun to unload at a terminal with sufficient depth alongside and the only one suitable with an alongside depth of 15.5 m (51 ft)’ was the Sociedad Portuaria del Norte facility which is part of Sociedad Portuaria de Santa Marta’s holding in the Port of Barranquilla.

Alejandro Múnera, commercial manager of Sociedad Portuaria del Norte was delighted at the turn of events not least because in his words, “It has proved that the recent works carried out to deepen the access channel were successful and Barranquilla must now be recognised as a modern port capable of receiving larger vessels, which will positively affect the freight costs to and from the port.”