November 9, 2012, was a very special day for the Port Authority of Mazatlán, as Chilean company, SAAM Group, represented by the Terminal Maritima Mazatlán, S.A. de C.V. (TMAZ), began operations at the Port of Mazatlán to handle the loading and unloading of goods, warehouses and yards of the multipurpose terminal port.
Mauricio Ortiz Medina, Commercial Director of TMAZ, told the newspaper RíoDoce that almost two years after it took over operations of the port, the port has failed to attract the big cargo ships that were envisioned. He also noted that the Mazatlán-Durango highway was supposed to open shortly after the contract was signed, but was delayed for over a year.
TMAZ has invested over $25 million in the city’s port with the expectation of meeting the needs of a Deepwater port and the connectivity of the Durango-Mazatlán-Matamoros highway Federal authorities promised, but continual postponements have resulted in the port not being as profitable as was expected.
In the 21 months TMAZ has operated the port it has improved port infrastructure and in February of this year opened dock number six, which is part of the installations required for so-called mother ships, which have not called on the port because the channel does not have a sufficient depth to receive those ships.
Mauricio Ortiz said after the opening of the Mazatlán-Durango highway TMAZ expected the commercial cargo to increase given the huge investment the federal government had made. They expected an economic improvement in the country’s economic northern corridor, since all the cargo coming from Asia would pass through Sinaloa and Durango, the road being a logistics node. But the reality has turned out to be different.
“To be a logistical node it must have the characteristics of competitiveness and so far we have seen that the road has had a very positive impact on the tourism, as is seen in hotel occupancy in Mazatlán; but that same growth has not been reflected in the growth of commercial cargo,” the Director said.
TMAZ has installed two cranes, which has increased the efficiency of the port by 50 percent, but, says Mauricio Ortiz, “until you reach the big ships, there are not the cargo volumes that need these cranes.”
In an interview with RíoDoce Mauricio Ortiz said that so far the federal government has not released the funds needed to continue the work of dredging or even given a date when the funds will be delivered. He added that although there is movement of cargo at the port, it is not what is wanted.
Mauricio Ortiz added, “In order to be competitive we need a world class port. Today the port of Mazatlán is receiving vessels with a maximum length of 225 meters. It is essential that resources appear so we can proceed with the dredging.”
“First we need to remove the stone in the navigation channel, which will allow a vessel of greater draft; we need to deepen the channel to 15 meters at least.”
“The port is ready; we want to make the Mazatlán port a benchmark in the Mexican Pacific coast.”
(from RíoDoce)
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