The Mexican Chamber of the Maritime Transport Industry (Cameintram) renewed its National Board of Directors on Thursday for the 2025-2026 term, during which José Manuel Urreta Ortega was sworn in as its new president.

The incoming leader confirmed that he will continue the work accomplished by outgoing president Raúl Téllez Villagra, and reaffirmed his commitment to working for the Mexican merchant marine and the country’s development.

“In calm or turbulent waters, we will work for the sector,” he told the chamber members.

Urreta Ortega indicated that the areas they will focus their efforts on will be cabotage, maritime highways, shipbuilding, support for federal government projects such as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT), the Maya Train, and the Dos Bocas Refinery; as well as contractual improvements with Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) , a focus on maritime decarbonization, nearshoring, cybersecurity, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence.

Present at the swearing-in ceremony, Vice Admiral Javier Torres Claudio, head of the Port Captaincy and Maritime Affairs Unit (Unicapam) , said that this month the Navy will begin a small coastal shipping project in the port of Salina Cruz, in the state of Oaxaca, to promote the CIIT, and also encouraged the Mexican merchant marine to participate in these projects now that various incentives have been established.

Urreta emphasized that one of the central pillars of his administration will be to consolidate Cameintram as the most representative and active business entity in Mexico’s maritime-port sector, as well as to defend the common interests of its members. To this end, he invited them to actively participate in the actions of his renewed National Board of Directors.

Cameintram recently celebrated its 35th anniversary and affiliates shipowners, operators, and service providers of the Mexican merchant marine.

The new presidency of Cameintram emphasized unity and teamwork among members and the current government, as well as within the Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) and the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) , representing the interests of the maritime sector as interlocutors to improve the industry’s conditions.

In his speech, Concamin Secretary Héctor Ramírez Leal stated that the country’s industrialists will support the work of Cameintram and outlined their efforts to promote the participation of the Mexican merchant marine in national supply chains, as well as encourage investment in this sector.

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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.

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El cargo CGPMM to Implement Changes to Boost Maritime Cabotage apareció primero en T21.

Maritime cabotage in Mexico has received a new boost with the inauguration of a specially built dock in the port of Lázaro Cárdenas, although this infrastructure project, which was completed over a period of two and a half years, will take even longer to begin operations.

On September 18, federal port authorities and the Michoacan port itself held an event that highlighted, among other things, the completion of the construction works of the coastal pier , where an investment of 590 million pesos was allocated to have a water front of 350 meters in length, an operations yard and a lighting system.

In an interview with T21, Vice Admiral Anselmo Osorio, Director General of the National Port System Administration (Asipona) Lázaro Cárdenas , indicated that the start of operations of the cabotage dock is now linked to an administrative-legal process in which the port authority will launch, at the end of October or beginning of November, a public tender in which interested parties will be able to compete for a contract for partial transfer of rights to offer loading and unloading maneuvering services at the dock.

Osorio Fraga explained that they are currently gathering information from organizations such as the Institute for the Administration and Appraisal of National Assets (Indaabin) , the General Directorate of Ports and the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) , among others, for the development of the public tender. He also indicated that at least five companies have expressed interest in participating in the contest , although he did not reveal their names.

“The potential transferee who is interested must meet a series of requirements in which he must explain to us (…) what the dock is going to be used for, specifically that it can be as a multi-use terminal that includes cabotage, that is, the dock offers the services so that it can operate in it, from mineral bulk, grains, grain cargo, the same containers, if the ship as such has the cranes to do the maneuver, fluids, that is, general cargo, which includes, I repeat, cabotage itself so that the merchandise is loaded or unloaded from the dock to be transferred to other docks nationwide,” explained the general director of Asipona Lázaro Cárdenas.

In addition, something that will also be included in the contract for the partial transfer of rights is that the winner of the tender will have to carry out a dredging process to reach a depth sufficient for ships to be able to enter the dock. The required depth is between 15 and 17 meters. “It is part of the investment that they are going to make to be able to operate the dock,” said Anselmo Osorio.

During the six-year term of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, port authorities stated that maritime cabotage would be given a greater boost given the country’s opportunity to have two extensive coastlines, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, for the movement of goods. They even implemented special rates to encourage companies.

However, specialists consulted by T21 say that there are several factors that discourage companies from considering this type of transport in their supply chains. The first is the long distances between their production centers and ports , that is, the main industrial zones are located in the central, Bajío and northern regions, since there is a strong commercial connection with the United States, and for this reason land transport has prevailed over maritime transport.

Another situation that arises is the contact that cabotage goods must have with Mexican customs, which generates a delay in time and costs for companies, despite the fact that it is not international cargo that requires tax compliance or the presentation of certificates.

However, the low level of cabotage activity in the country is also reflected in the limited supply of merchant marine under the Mexican flag that provides regular services between ports.

In the first seven months of 2024, Mexican ports registered a total movement of 31 million 255 thousand 116 tons in cabotage services , that is, 7.8% less compared to the same period last year, according to statistics from the General Coordination of Ports and Merchant Marine (CGPMM) of the Ministry of the Navy .

In the specific case of Lázaro Cárdenas, the port totals one million 737 thousand 363 tons in cabotage maneuvers , which represents an annual drop of 29.5%, according to the reference periods.

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With the aim of being a reference in the mobilization of goods in the national maritime trade, the inauguration of the docks for coastal shipping and smaller vessels was carried out, as well as the completion of other infrastructure works at the Lázaro Cárdenas Port in Michoacán.

Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, governor of the state, highlighted that the coastal shipping dock means “taking a step forward” in the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas, with the purpose of strengthening trade with Asian countries, such as China, Japan and Korea, and India, a nation that is experiencing economic growth and which, he said, is in the sights of this port.

Regarding cabotage , which is the transportation of goods that occurs from port to port, he said that Mexico is one of the countries with one of the greatest potentials for this activity, but it is also one of the nations that takes the least advantage of it to move cargo internally.

At the ceremony to conclude the cabotage docks for small vessels, as well as access to the coastal boulevard and the start of rehabilitation of the General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río National Airport, he assured that the cabotage network being developed is “logical” with the Port of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and with the trans-isthmus route .

Ramírez Bedolla said that the launch of this route has to do with “creating a hub between Manzanillo, Ensenada, Guaymas, Mazatlán, all the Pacific ports, including Lázaro Cárdenas and the Port of Salina Cruz.”

According to the Navy (Semar), from January to July of this year, the national movement of diverse cargo by cabotage was 31 million 255 thousand 116 tons .

In cabotage by type of cargo in said period in the Lázaro Cárdenas Port, the Semar indicated in its Report on the movement of cargo, ships and passengers in the ports of Mexico, a total of one million 737 thousand 363 tons were reached, and, in the same period, the national movement in commercial ports by cabotage of various types of merchandise totaled 21 million 289 thousand 674 tons .

Despite the importance of maritime cabotage, which the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador placed as one of its priority projects, this activity has not shown considerable progress during his administration, since in his Sixth Government Report he barely dedicates a few lines to it where he explains the “actions” undertaken.

At the event, Vice Admiral Anselmo Osorio Fraga, General Director of the National Port System Administration (Asipona) Lázaro Cárdenas , highlighted that the new docks for cabotage and smaller vessels will play a decisive role in boosting the economy and sustainable development of the region, as they will improve cargo handling capacity and contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions.

He indicated that access to the coastal boulevard represents a great advance in the port-city link, and pointed out that in the rehabilitation of the General Lázaro Cárdenas del Río National Airport , a plan will be designed, in order to complement the infrastructure to develop this area.

According to Semar, the cabotage dock is the first specialized in short distance transit in Mexico, with an investment of 590 million pesos (mdp) , it is 350 meters long and has an operations yard and an advanced lighting system.

The dock for small vessels had an investment of 92 million pesos and is designed to serve search and rescue vessels in charge of the Navy, as well as tugboats. Its dimensions are 150 meters long by 20 meters wide , and it has two platforms of different heights.

Access to the coastal boulevard required an investment of 293 million pesos and measures 3.2 kilometers, and will serve to improve connectivity and mobility in the area.

Regarding the start of the rehabilitation of the airport, he explained that just in August of this year a collaboration agreement was signed with the Mexico City Airport Group (GACM) , with the purpose of providing technical, administrative, legal and financial assistance to Asipona Lázaro Cárdenas.

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