Port Watch Weekly #8 – NL Central America

Port Watch Weekly

week # 8

Caribbean Updates

St. Eustatius

Attached notice received for updated Dock Charges for calling at GTI Statia Terminals N.V., effective 01 February 2024.

Dock Charge Units are calculated by multiplying the vessel’s LOA X BEAM X DEPTH
Please note that depth is molded depth not draft.
Measurements used are in meters.
$ = United States Dollars

Cayman Island
George Town port

Draft restriction: Forward to mid-ship draft cannot exceed 5.2m
No port congestion reported.

Haiti

The social situation remains unstable in Haiti’s territory, with insecurity on the rise, as kidnappings have increased considerably. We are currently operating at Port Cap Haitien, located north of Haiti and where the situation in the capital is not yet affected.

Central America

Costa Rica

Caldera Port – Attached Port’s circular to importers of general cargo / iron (bound), to strengthen accidents prevention measures and new procedure defined by the terminal.

Acajutla, El Salvador

Starting February 19th/ 2024 at Pier A-1 / A-2 will begin Project of dock front repair. Phases will be as follows:

Phase 1: will be Pier A-1 with 110mts with estimate timing of 3 months on first stage, having about 200mts for docking vessels (towards Pier A-2)
Phase 2: will be for Pier A-2 with 100mts with estimate timing of 2.6 months repair. Having about 210mts for docking other vessels (towards Pier A-1)
Phase 3: will be 100mts in between piers A1 and A2, for this phase. No merchant vessels will be docked.

Note: this will affect congestion on other piers.

Line Ups & Industry news

For more information, please:

Caldera

Due to unfavorable weather conditions and congestion, vessels can experience waiting times as follows:

Note: These waiting days are subject to weather condition, arrival drafts and type of cargo detailed as follows:

MPP and dry-bulk carriers are assigned for docking at berth #4 which has a max permissible draft of 12.3m SW.
Average water density in Caldera Port is 1.018
Main reason of delays is the current rain affecting turnaround time on vessel´s operating at berth.

Berth priorities: 1- Cruiser, 2- Perishable cargoes (reefer containers), 3- Ro-Ro (short time call), 4- grain vessels (at berth #4), 5- General cargo.

MPP and dry-bulk carriers may be assigned to dock other berths subject to priorities vessel type as follows:

UPDATED PORT DIMENSIONS:

Pier N° 1 length: 210 meters

(Official DRAFT for General cargo Vessel 10.50 mts) | CONTAINER VESSEL´S HAVE PRIORITY

Pier N° 2 length: 150 meters

(Official DRAFT for General cargo Vessel 9.50 mts)

Pier N° 3 length: 190 meters

(Official DRAFT for General cargo Vessel 6.75 mts)

Pier N ° 4 length: 250 meters

(Official DRAFT for General cargo Vessel 12.30 mts) | GRAIN VESSEL´S HAVE PRIORITY

Acajutla, El Salvador

Port declared as “Congested” and there are currently 6 ships waiting to dock. At the moment, berthing is based on below priority list:

Cruise vessel
Sugar & molasses loading vessels.
Containers.
Bulk carrier with food and perishable cargo.
RORO.
Cement/steel, etc.

Extra mooring lines onboard are suggested in case Terminal cannot supply as ACJ is at open sea and current swell conditions are affecting the piers.
Vessels that arrived with draft higher than 11.2m can only work at Pier C, which is dedicated to Containers vessels.
Waiting time is around 8-10 days for breakbulk vessels.

Rio Haina

Waiting time cannot be estimated but now both port is congested.

Current port restrictions:

LOA 760ft BEAM 105ft

Min depth 10.1m at pier #4 west.
Min depth 10.9m at pier #5 west.
Min depth 9.8m at pier #3 east.
Min depth 9.9m at pier #4 east.
Min depth 10.4m at pier #5 east.
Recommended UKC 0.3m.
Density BW varies between 1.016 and 1.025.

Puerto Plata

LOA 700ft BEAM 100ft

Min depth 10.2m at pier #4 west
Min depth 10.2m at pier #5 west
Recommended UKC 0.3m
Density SW 1.025.

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

LOA restrictions: Berths: 1 – 4 -200 MT long each and accommodate as per LOA availability.

Berthing prospects at Puerto Quetzal are subject to various factor as:

Puerto Quetzal has 4 berths for discharge operations.
Regular and consistent liner traffic, two (2) of these berths are solely used for liner/container vessels.
These vessels include container ships with perishable cargo, passenger ships and military vessels.
The remaining two (2) berths are to be used for all other types of cargo.
Container arriving on daily basis with priority.
Berthing prospects are based on a first come first serve basis, except for liner (chartered) vessels.
Ships loading sugar have priority above all other vessels at port.
Currently no weather issues. BB times are approximately 15-20 days.