Manta produces 70% of the exportable cargo of the national tuna industry

Manta will export 70pc of tuna production thanks to arrival of container ships

ECUADOR
Tuesday, July 16, 2019, 23:50 (GMT + 9)

The CMA CGM Fort St Pierre became the first container ship to dock in the Port of Manta after a decade.

Tugboats helped her to call at 17:15 this Monday, July 15, 2019 at Pier 2 of the international port operated by the Manta Port Terminal (TPM), a subsidiary of the Chilean company Agunsa.

In an area of security of the dock were directors of TPM, of the shipping company and of the Ecuadorian Chamber of Industrial and Tuna Processors (CEIPA), a trident that made this docking possible, which is considered "a milestone" for Manta.

CMA CGM Fort St Pierre (Photo: Stock File)

The arrival of the French shipping company CMA CGM has been a long-time awaited event for the Manta tuna sector.

The containerized cargo returns to Manta because it has a multipurpose port that has been fully modernized by TPM, with infrastructure to receive deep-draft vessels. The investment in the 27 months of operation amounts to more than USD 30 million, according to Roberto Salazar, president of the company. And an additional USD 2 million will be invested to expand yard 600 to increase installed capacity for containers.

So far, vehicles, industrial fishing and solid and liquid bulk products have been received for the local industry.

At a press conference, Terminal Portuario de Manta (TPM) formalized the direct traffic of containerized cargo through the port of Manta by the shipping company CMA CGM from July 15 of this year, with weekly calls, after 27 months of private meetings by Agunsa. Present at the event were Javier Moreira, manager of the CMA CGM Ecuador Shipping Agency; Roberto Salazar, president of Manta Port Terminal; Luis Alfredo Ortiz, Manta Port Authority manager, Gustavo Núñez and Ricardo Herrera, president and vice president of CEIPA respectively Assistant Secretary for Ports and Maritime and Fluvial Transport, Eduardo Aguirre Zapata, also attended.

This is also the first time that the giant ship touches an Ecuadorian port, coming from Manzanillo and Buenaventura to dock in Manta. Javier Moreira, manager of the CMA CGM shipping company, explained that it is part of the Oro Verde service, which together with another vessel will each make a weekly frequency to Manta.

CEIPA  Executive Director Mónica Maldonado said that 180 containers (TEU) will be exported each week.

Manta produces 70% of the exportable cargo of the national tuna industry and from now on everything will go through Manta and not through Guayaquil. Bringing a container to that port represented between USD 1,000 and 1,500 and now the cost will be reduced by almost half.

Photo: Stock File

Maldonado stressed that in less than 15 days all the logistics were prepared to be ready and receive the CMA CGM Fort St Pierre. Dry and refrigerated TEUs were moved from Guayaquil so that the tuna plants had the cargoes of precooked cans and loins ready.

The arrival of the ship will allow to reach the Eurpean markets, where the main destination is Spain.

"It's a spectacular job that CMA CGM has done to bring us refrigerated containers because the cold chain can not be broken," highlighted Maldonado.

Author: Mónica Mendoza / El Comercio (Read the whole story here)

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