Dreaming costs nothing, says the popular adage. The state authority that manages the ports of Campeche, mainly focused on oil activity in the Gulf of Mexico, seeks to attract and trigger new investments in the next three years and thus become the logistics hub of the Yucatan Peninsula.
The Campeche coastline has seven ports that have historically been linked to the oil energy sector: Isla del Carmen, Seybaplaya, Lerma, Cayo Arcas, Ta’kuntah and Yúum K’aak Náab (these last two are rather tankers anchored in the sea that are used as storage and unloading terminals).
But the plan of the Comprehensive Port Administration (API) of Campeche focuses for now on the first two, where it is planned to carry out works to improve port service and attract a larger number of vessels with greater capacity, as well as various companies to install their production centers.
According to this port authority, with the economic resources that are being managed at the federal and state level in Isla del Carmen, dredging will be carried out to increase the draft of the navigation channel and the interior docks of the port to 4.0-4.5 meters ( m) current at 7 m.
“A situation that has suffered for many years and a social and business complaint from the sector is that it has been a port with a very low draft and depth, which has been considered a loss of commercial opportunities and greater development of investment infrastructure projects in the oil sector,” said José Adán Aguilar Marentes, commercial director of API Campeche, at a press conference.
The official said that the API is developing the executive project for the expansion, construction and rehabilitation of two more hectares that will be incorporated into the installed capacity of the port, and there will be more than a thousand new linear meters to be able to receive the new boats.
In addition, the API’s plan is for Isla del Carmen to capture part of the business that opens with the start of operations of the Dos Bocas refinery, in Tabasco , such as services and supplies of pipes, material, personnel, fuels, among others.
In the case of Seybaplaya, it is a port that became one of the gateways for the supply of materials used in the construction work of the Mayan Train -specifically sections 2 and 3-, but that will now also seek to meet the demand that will generate the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) , part of the infrastructure projects that have been promoted in the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“The port of Seybaplaya is going to be a specialized port that will allow the state of Campeche and the Yucatan Peninsula to diversify by having new lines of business such as bulk terminals, container terminals, and multipurpose terminals,” said Aguilar. Marentes.
He explained that the port’s draft will be increased to at least 12 meters , which will allow new specialized vessels to be brought in, in addition to having a new platform of 30 or 40 hectares for companies to carry out logistics activities, with the aim of diversifying beyond oil activities towards general merchandise to serve the Yucatan Peninsula.
For his part, Gilberto Romero Ortegón, Planning Director of API Campeche, indicated that in the case of the port of Isla del Carmen an investment of 1,600 million pesos (mdp) is being considered, while for Seybaplaya about four thousand million pesos.
In search of the investor
It should be noted that a group of API Campeche officials, led by Agapito Ceballos Fuentes, general director, left this Wednesday on a trip to China and Singapore , where they will have different meetings already agreed to convince business groups to invest in these investment opportunities. business presented by Campeche ports.
Likewise, API Campeche is preparing the “APICAM Port Investment Attraction Forum” to be held on October 17 and 18 at the Campeche XXI convention center, where it is expected to bring together leaders of the port sector to discuss and promote development. of port infrastructure projects in the state.
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