Costs Of Limón
Port Increases
The project to
build and
operate a new
port in Limón
has a new
price-tag of
us$950 million
dollars, the
president of
port authority
Japdeva, Allan
Hidalgo, told
BNamericas.
Dutch firm Royal
Haskonig carried
out a study and
found that the
original us$812
million budget
was not
realistic as it
dated back to
2004, said
Hidalgo.
The estimated
ROI also rose
from 15-17.5%,
and the cost of
handling a
container rose
from us$169 to
us$252. “These
modifications
have made the
project more
attractive,”
Hidalgo said.
Meanwhile, even
though the
project remains
the same, the
tender process
has been delayed
as one of the
participating
firms is
requesting more
time to present
its offer and
the comptroller
general has to
respond.
“We expect to
receive offers
by end-May but
the date depends
on the
comptroller
general,”
Hidalgo said,
adding that
Japdeva’s
original
deadline to open
technical and
economic bids
was May 7 with a
timeframe to
present bids of
10 working days.
The interested
firm is now
asking for 30
days due to the
magnitude of the
project.
Some 42
companies
purchased the
bidding rules.
However, only
3-4 firms have
shown real
interest in
developing the
project, the
executive said.
The tender to
build and
operate the new
port was first
launched in
April 2009. The
process has been
delayed due to
several
modifications to
the original
bidding rules.
The terminal
will be
developed 10km
from the
existing Moín
and Limón port
terminals and
involves a
construction
area of 1,500m2.
The new port
will have the
capacity to
handle Panamax
vessels which
carry up to
65,000t.
Construction
will be carried
out in two
stages. The
first phase
involves the
construction of
sea defenses,
the first 900m
of the dock and
three docking
positions. In a
second phase,
the
concessionaire
will add 600m to
the pier and
build two more
docking
positions. Both
phases are
scheduled to be
operating by
2016.
The new terminal
is included in a
government port
master plan
which aims to
modernize Costa
Rica’s port
infrastructure
over the next 35
years.
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