Panama announced that it has entered into a new agreement
with an investment group that is partnering with an affiliate of Mediterranean
Shipping Company (MSC) to complete and operate the long-delayed Panama Canal
Container Port. The project had started eight years ago by a Chinese company
but after the 2019 elections in Panama, the new government canceled the
concession.
Under the new agreement, Notarc Management Group, a private
investment and asset management company active in Panama, Latin America, and
the Caribbean will take over the project which was 40 percent completed before
the prior contract was canceled. The
group acquired the rights to the project and will finalize the plans and
complete construction at the container terminal which will be located in Colon,
new the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. Terminal Investment Limited, an
affiliate of MSC joined the project and will also undertake management and
oversee operations at the facility.
"Panama is an ideal gateway hub in the Americas and the
world,” said Dion Bowe, Managing Partner of NMG Latin America and the newly
appointed CEO for the Panama Canal Container Port. “This acquisition is a
strategic opportunity for us to further develop and integrate a regional
logistics platform while investing in assets which are synergistic to our
investment model and where innovation and location offer an incomparable
business footprint in the region."
The new group said it would review the designs and resume
construction at the location before the end of 2022. They estimated that the
total investment will have grown to $1.4 billion for the creation of the port
facility versus the original $900 million in the agreement with the Chinese.
The modernized transshipment facility is expected to handle 2.5 million TEUs in
its initial years and grow to a capacity of 5 million TEUs.
In addition to the transshipment port, Notarc has entered
into a memorandum of understanding with U.S.-based SGP BioEnergy to construct
and develop a bioenergy facility and other logistics infrastructure at the
Colon project.