President Danilo Medina was in Punta Caucedo in eastern Santo Domingo on Thursday, 13 December 2018, for the start of expansion works at the Multimodal Caucedo Port, the country’s largest freight port. Efforts are underway to turn it into the Caribbean’s prime logistics hub. The port is operated by DP World, one of the largest port operators in the world.
DP World Caucedo announced it would invest an additional RD$10 billion in the port to add a 400-meter long and 17-meter deep dock, additional area for freight container storage and the purchase of three new cranes of the largest capacity in the market. The expansion will allow the port to receive ships with capacity of up to 23,000 freight containers (TEUS) or Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units.
Speaking at the event, Samuel Conde, president of DP World Caucedo, heralded the significant increase in maritime connectivity for global trade the port has brought. He said this enables the country to take maximum advantage of its geographical positioning. “This new investment aims precisely to increase our physical capacity for the global interaction of the country and its foreign trade,” said Conde. The expansion represents a 45% growth in the capacity of the terminal, from the current 1.4 million TEUS to 2.2 million TEUS.
Enrique Ramirez Paniagua, director general of Customs Agency (DGA), highlighted what the freight handling and logistics services mean for government revenues. He said revenues collected at the Caucedo port currently represent 42% of the DGA revenues, “which is money that supports the programs and actions of the Government for the development of the nation.”
The construction will begin in January 2019 with an estimated duration of one year. It is expected to be operational for the first quarter of 2020, which will make DP World Caucedo one of the ports with the greatest capacity in the region and the only one with the capacity to handle 23,000 TEU vessels.
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Puerto Caucedo
Diario Libre
17 December 2018
