Peru’s Chancay Port Starts Operations Next Month
The new $3bn Chancay Port in Peru is set to begin operations from next month, with the first service due to commence during a “soft” launch period.
The port’s inauguration is scheduled to take place in the middle of November when the first service loop, consisting of two container ships per week, begins operating to and from Shanghai.
The port, which is widely reported to be 60% owned by Chinese ocean freight carrier COSCO, is expected to become a major hub on South America’s west coast. Capable of handling today’s Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs), it is expected to become a transhipment point for smaller feeder vessels from Colombia, Ecuador and Chile.
Chancay was the subject of a major controversy earlier this year, when the government of Peru tried to backtrack on an agreement which provided Chinese state-owned COSCO with exclusivity over operations at the port for 30 years.
A government department claimed that it did not have the legal authority to grant Cosco this exclusivity, after Cosco had already spent around $1.3 billion on the first of three development stages. Talks between Lima and Beijing resulted in the original terms being reinstated.
President Xi Jinping of China is currently expected to attend November’s opening ceremony.
