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 Puerto Vallarta Real Estate | August 2007 
New Port Proposed in Ensenada
 PVNN
| | The mega container port and rail project planned 150 miles south of San Diego at Baja California's Punta Colonet will benefit the United States as well as Mexico, top Mexican federal officials say. |
Punta Colonet, a deserted bay in Northern Baja located only one hour away from the Mexican Port of Ensenada and close to the United States ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, could definitely become a strong competitor for Lázaro Cárdenas Port operating on the Pacific Coast of México.
What has been so far just a proposal, an idea, Punta Colonet could become a reality by the end of August, when a meeting between the Federal Government and B.C.'s political and private entities takes place.
If this ambitious two hundred million USD project goes through, Punta Colonet will become a maritime port of great importance in the years to come. Sources say that they estimate the new port will be able to handle around 5 million 20 foot containers by it's fifth year of operation, by far surpassing the number of ships that the port at Lázaro Cárdenas can manage.
Government and private investors interested in the development of Punta Colonet have been a bit reluctant, a particular concern being the effect this project will have on the development and operations of Lázaro Cárdenas Port.
Juan Paratore, the General Manager of Port Administration says that for now, Punta Colonet is just a concept, but the United States press and media have been spreading the word that there will definitely be a multi-million investment made.
However other sources of information sustain that if commerce between Asia and North America continue to rise, soon enough The Mexican ports situated on the Pacific Ocean such as; Ensenada, Lázaro Cárdenas, and Manzanillo could become saturated if they don't increase their capacity. Even though Manzanillo has enough space and infrastructure for handling such maritime traffic, it still has to become aware of the growing situation and start improving its operations.
The Punta Colonet undercover project has been highly influenced by International maritime enterprises, which have been studying the impact on the North American ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles due to the possibility of commercial saturation in the near future.
Together, these 2 US ports currently handle around 7 Million 20 ft containers coming from Asia, and the number continues to increase at a rate of 15% annually, so, according to experts The United States will quite soon need to use alternative Ports located in The Mexican Pacific Coast.
This vision is shared by other transportation companies as well. For example Kansas City Southern Railroads, who has been using Lázaro Cárdenas Port over the past years to transport approximately 2 Million 20 ft containers annually into Central and Eastern US states through the "uninterrupted" NAFTA Railway.
Other sources say that even with Punta Colonet fully functioning in the near future, operations at Port Lazaro Cárdenas will not be affected since increased growth in maritime trade over the next few years will be so high that the addition of this and other new ports like Hutchinson Port's Holding México, which is currently under construction, will have little effect on existing ports.
According to K.C.S.R., there are bigger and better plans for Manzanillo's L.C.P. stating that all of the new ports being built on the Mexican Pacific Coast will be necessary. However, Manzanillo should not believe that everything promised is written in stone, so they will continue to pursue more business enterprises, such as new cargo and transportation solutions.
Another reason the development of Punta Colonet is so attractive to the United States is that it will be located just 240 kilometers south of Tijuana. But experts say that Manzanillo could still be a cheaper and faster point of entry regardless of the fact that it is more than 1,000 kilometers away from the border. |
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