By Osiel Cruz and Enrique Duarte
The Mexican port authority is continuing to push ahead with its project to boost cabotage activity for maritime transport of goods in the country.
In an interview with T21, the General Coordinator of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) , Captain Manuel Fernando Gutiérrez Gallardo, outlined some of the strategies that will be applied in this new federal administration focused on materializing this project inherited from the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
T21: Mr. Coordinator, during the previous administration, a project was presented to promote short-distance maritime routes and encourage cabotage. In the end, not much progress was made. In that sense, is this a program that will continue in this administration?
Manuel Fernando Gutiérrez Gallardo: Admiral Secretary [of the Navy] Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, since he took office, has instructed us to work to develop cabotage , which is a priority project that the Navy has had since the previous administration.
I’m going to tell you about the progress, because this is going to take off. We first established internal working groups between the Interoceanic Corridor [of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec] , the Coordination [General of Ports and Merchant Marine], the priority area, which is Unicapam (Port Authority and Maritime Affairs Unit) as well, because we discovered that they have been making efforts separately . We have already met and the Coordination is leading these meetings.
We also had a meeting with Cameintram (Mexican Chamber of the Maritime Transport Industry) , which are the Mexican shipowners, because we want cabotage to be done by Mexican shipowners, with Mexican ships, Mexican crew . But we are also making a collaboration agreement with SAT (Tax Administration Service) to have the information on the Cartas de Porte ( Bills of Lading), which are used by the transporters, to see how the cargo movement is in the country. That will give us information on where to where we can implement cabotage routes in the country to complement land transport.
What advances do we have that are of great interest to Mexican shipowners? We are going to give them preference by modifying the rules of operation of the port , with that they are going to save thousands of dollars from waiting to enter the port. Mexican ships that do cabotage will have preference to enter the port, to the dock, because a ship costs between 15 thousand and 20 thousand dollars a day to be stopped; so in that reduction in the costs of using infrastructure, we are giving discounts of up to 50% for the use of infrastructure, we are already discussing it with the Asiponas (Administrations of the National Port System). I am telling you in advance. It will be a surprise for everyone. Integrated and preferential rates for Mexican shipowners that do cabotage.
We have already identified the path to follow with other authorities, we want to reduce the ISR (Income Tax) for Mexican shipowners (…) it will help a lot to encourage Mexican shipowners to bring ships and Mexican flag carriers, but also, just as the land transport companies did, which credit the IEPS (Special Tax on Production and Services), diesel, we want it to be credited to Mexican shipowners, to the ships.
So with operating rules, cost reduction for infrastructure use and the issue of integrated rates, who wouldn’t want to become Mexican ?
We are going to sit down with the owners of the loads or with the buyers of the load, the sellers, and the buyers of the load, but also with those from Canacar (National Chamber of Cargo Transportation) , those of land transportation, to make routes as if it were multimodal transportation (…), even with rail transportation we are going to hold meetings so that they make commercial agreements , so that all this happens.
A market study was commissioned , financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and we have already received the results. We are sharing them with Mexican shipowners, but they need the other part, the cargo issue.
T21: Coordinator, you mentioned that changes will be established for the operating rules. Do these changes also consider the interaction between customs and ports?
MFGG: It has nothing to do with cabotage because it is national cargo. However, the ports and the internal infrastructure of the ports are designed to receive foreign trade cargo and all the roads that go from the docks converge on a route that is the fiscal route, there is no cabotage route, there are no cabotage routes. What we are looking for is to create cabotage routes , so that they do not mix with the fiscal route, the cabotage route for national cargo (and) the fiscal route for foreign trade cargo.
[The port of] Lázaro Cárdenas is already designed like this. Lázaro Cárdenas has a coastal shipping dock , a coastal shipping route, and they are putting that dock out to tender right now so that they can finish dredging. We all have to do the same, that is why customs says there are no problems with the issue of coastal shipping, because customs is also participating in the working groups and all those details are coming out.
Q21: Are there other elements that are considered in this plan to encourage cabotage?
MFGG: We are close to acquiring the training ship. It is a multipurpose ship that will work on cabotage, short distance maritime transport through a floating contract with some of the interested parties, but the ship will also serve to comply with the study plan of the students of the three nautical schools, as required by the STCW, which is the training agreement for merchant seamen, officers.
The first payment is already being made this month and the delivery time for this new multipurpose ship is six months, so we will launch the training ship in 2025. The good news or the premise is that the resources have already been authorized , the acquisitions committee has already approved it unanimously.
T21: What was the cost?
MFGG: Approximately 13 million dollars. It is a 153-meter-long ship with capacity for 900 20-foot containers. It will have the capacity to accommodate 300 students. It will be self-sustaining, the freight itself will pay for its maintenance. We will not require an additional budget, but the freight itself will be used to pay for the training of the boys, but also for the ship’s docks, maintenance, operating costs and its upkeep.
We invite you to stay tuned for the January 2025 issue of T21 magazine, where other topics discussed in the interview with the head of the CGPMM will be published.
Comment and follow us on X: @CruzOsiel / @EnriqueDuRio / @GrupoT21
