ValparaisoPort, one of the most important ports in Chile, will double in size by 2017, following an investment from the Spanish company OHL Concesiones of almost US$350m for the construction of a second terminal according to Valparaiso Port’s website.
Terminal 2 will span 33.5 acres of sea and will be able to hold two Super Post Panamax ships — vessels of 22 containers wide — simultaneously seeing the capacity of the port increase to 22 million tons of cargo annually.
The new terminal will also allow the port to hold an additional 1.2 million tons of freight cargo and around 950,000 TEUs making it Chile’s largest port. The current terminal can hold 11 million tons.
The terminal is being designed as multi-functional, however the Puerto Valparaíso Administration (EPV) has stated that it intends for the port extension to largely handle freight and cruise ships.
Construction company OHL Concesiones won the 30-year concession to build and run the terminal in April, outbidding Ports America, Empresas Navieras and Besalco, offering to invest more than US$345.8m.
The Chilean government which has invested in excess of US$1.8 billion into increasing the capacity of Chilean ports since 2011 aims to secure further investment to reach a target of US$507m for development of the terminal.
