HAITI has officially opened a new container terminal built with public and private money at the port of Lafito to handle general and refrigerated cargo and break bulk shipments and compete with neighbouring countries Jamaica, Panama and the Dominican Republic to be a regional logistics hub for the Americas.
However, given its draft depth of 41 feet and 1,476 feet of berth space, Lafito will not be able to accommodate postpanamax vessels arriving from Asia.
Instead the port, which is located 20 kilometres north of small and crowded Port-au-Prince, will have to rely on feeder services to move the cargo to ports based in the US, Central America and South America, reported America Shipper.
Lafito port has been fitted with 78 power plugs on property and 48 plugs off dock for refrigerated cargo. Other services offered to shippers and ocean carriers include consolidation and warehousing, and inland drayage. The port also operates a container yard outside Port-au-Prince with a warehouse for less-than-container consolidation.
Last month the new port also added two Liebherr LHM 420 mobile harbour cranes and is already equipped with two reach stackers, two top loaders, 10 yard trailers and tractors, 200 chassis and 16 trucks.
By comparison the nearby Port-au-Prince only has a draft of 31 feet and lacks modern cargo handling facilities, as well as space to handle large cargo volumes.
Seattle-based terminal operator SSA Marine has been granted the lease to run the new facility, which port officials say has reached agreements with Taiwan's Evergreen Marine and Miami-based King Ocean Services to make Lafito a regular port of call.
Although, a manager at King Ocean Services, who declined to be named in the report, said there is no firm agreement in place yet to provide service to Lafito. King Ocean is a small ocean freight carrier that operates ships between ports in the Caribbean and Central America.
Evergreen currently serves Port-au-Prince, but doesn't use any of its own ships. It takes slots on alternating weekly services operated by small Caribbean-Central American companies, Caribbean Feeder and X-Press Feeders, with average vessel capacity of 1,207 TEU.
Port Lafito is part of a US$200 million economic development zone that will include an industrial free zone and a business park, which officials claim will create 25,000 new jobs by 2020.
PORTS
12 July 2015 - 20:35
Haiti's new Lafito box shop expected to surpass Port-au-Prince operation
HAITI has officially opened a new container terminal built with public and private money at the port of Lafito to handle general and refrigerated cargo and break bulk shipments and compete with neighbouring countries Jamaica, Panama and the Dominican Republic to be a regional logistics hub for the Americas.
PORTS
12 July 2015 - 20:35
Haiti's new Lafito box shop expected to surpass Port-au-Prince operation
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