There are seven international airports in the Dominican Republic; they are in Santo Domingo (Las Américas and Herrera), Puerto Plata, La Romana, Punta Cana, Santiago (a new airport will open in winter 2001), and Barahona (Maria Montez). Samana has two airports (Portillo and Arroyo Barril) that offer domestic service and can be habilitated for international flights of small airplanes. Consorcio Aerodom, an affiliate of the company that operates the Las Americas, Puerto Plata and Barahona airports, is building a new airport at Catey, midway between Playa Grande and Samana. The same company has under construction the La Isabela Airport in northern Santo Domingo.
Major maritime ports
Santo Domingo and other major cities are serviced by modern port facilities. At present, transportation to more than a dozen U.S. ports is available on a weekly basis from Haina Port in Santo Domingo. There is also daily freight service to Puerto Rico from this port.
Other ports are located in the cities of La Romana, Boca Chica, San Pedro de Macorís and Puerto Plata.
Haina, located just outside the capital city, has a 2,600 foot long, 35 foot draft wharf, a 40 ton container crane and a 60 acre container yard. A private group made up by shipping companies that use the port is investing RD$421 million to renovate the Haina Port by the Compańía HIT.
Another private group affiliated to CSX World Terminals of the US has plans to start construction on a US$300 million freighter ship port East of Santo Domingo, next to the Las Americas International Airport at Punta Caucedo. The mega port which will handle container cargo, automobiles and other wheeled vehicles, and probably cruise ship travel, will be carried out with an investment of more than US$250 million.
For more information, see Caucedo
San Pedro Port
Six of the leading Dominican shipping companies are joining efforts to build a US$130 million San Pedro International Terminal port in southeastern San Pedro de Macoris in two years time. Frederic Schad, Ageport, Agencia Maritima & Co., Perez & Cia, Maritima Dominicana and E.T. Heinsen are working with Terminales de Contenedores de Barcelona(tcbcn.com),
a Spanish company.
The modern container port will serve as a transshipment center. It will go up on the western bank of Higuamo River and will have docks for two large ‘post-Panama’ container ships in a first phase and for a third in a second phase. It will feature a container parking area of 750,000 square meters. Promoters of the private port say it will decongestion traffic through Santo Domingo as cargo headed for the Cibao can travel along the Carretera Mella.
Operations will be possible 24 hours a day. The promoters expect to handle 1.5 million tons of cargo in the first two years, increasing to 2.5 million as of the third year and five million in ten years time.
Manzanillo Port
Trans Dominicana de Desarrollo announced a US$1,400 million investment over a seven-year period in the northwestern provinces of Monte Cristi and Dajabon. The projects include the construction of a container ship and cargo freight port in Manzanillo, 1,000 hotel rooms and a 400-slip full service marina, industrial free trade zone, ecological park, airport, urban development projects, potable water and sewage infrastructure, 100 megawatt power plant, waste recycling facility and highways. Groupe Balguerie of France will be in charge of the port development together with the shipping companies Maersk, Evergreen and CMA-CGM. The industrial free trade zone will be Saudi Arabian investment of Djebel Ali company. The airport will be an investment of the French Groupe Egis. Carnival, Four Seasons and Accor tourism companies will develop the tourism ventures.