Contecon Guayaquil SA, the Ecuadorian subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services Inc., said it welcomes the recent decision by the Guayaquil government to dredge and maintain the channel leading to the Port of Guayaquil.
Through an international tender, the Technical Commission of the Municipality of Guayaquil on Oct. 5 awarded a 25-year concession to the Luxembourg-based Jan De Nul Group, which will undertake the dredging and maintenance of the 95-km main access channel leading to the port.
With dredging works expected to be completed within the first year of the concession, mega vessels will soon be able to enter the port even with a 12.5-meter draft at high tide, from the existing access channel depth of 9.6 meters.
Jose Antonio Contreras, CGSA chief executive, said: “This landmark undertaking of the Guayaquil municipality to dredge and maintain the main access channel, the first in 60 years, is truly laudable. It will help ensure the progress not only of Guayaquil, whose ports will be directly benefitted, but of the entire Ecuador.”