Svitzer Lands APMT Moin Towage Deal

Copenhagen-based towage and salvage company Svitzer will provide marine services for the new APM Terminals Moin Container Terminal on Costa Rica’s Atlantic coast under a 30-year terminal towage contract starting in the third quarter of 2017. Both Svitzer and APM Terminals are owned by Maersk Group.

Svitzer will station three 70TBP ASD tugs (2 with FiFi 1), one pilot vessel and a maintenance barge at the Port of Limón-Moin.

The company will also be training pilots and tug masters to operate the five vessels in its new training centre in the Bahamas.

“The agreement with APMT was the result of a lengthy process where Svitzer assisted in all phases of the marine solution including simulations of the towage operations, determining size and layout of the turning basin and defining the optimal specifications of the tugboats. By having a joint approach to the marine solution Svitzer is able to provide truly safe, reliable and cost-efficient services,” said Kasper Friis Nilaus, Chief Commercial Officer at Svitzer.

In August 2011, APMT signed a USD 992 million, 30-year concession contract with the Costa Rican government to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain the new Moin Container Terminal.

APM Terminals Moin recently concluded a contract for the delivery of six electric-powered STS cranes and 29 electric-powered Rubber Tire Gantry Cranes (eRTGs) which will make the 1.3 million TEU, deep water container terminal one of the most advanced in Latin America upon completion of Phase One in 2018.

Dredging is underway of the access channel and turning‐basin to be deepened to 16 meters. Other construction projects include the construction of a new 1.5 kilometer breakwater with a 40 hectare container yard, 600 meters of quay and 2 berths equipped with 6 post‐Panamax cranes.

Upon the completion of the project’s final phase, the facility will cover an area of 80 hectares, with 1,500 meters of quay, 5 berths, a 2.2 km breakwater and an access channel 18 meters deep, serving as a shipping hub for the Caribbean and Central America.