First Port in S. America Panamax Approved

Terminal de Contêineres de Paranaguá (TCP) first port in the region approved to allow unrestricted access of vessels of new Panama Canal’s maximum dimensions.

Only weeks after having received permission to lift all restrictions to navigate at night, TCP - 3rd biggest Brazilian container port located in Paranagua has become the first port in the region to receive approval to allow unrestricted access of vessels featuring the new Panama Canal’s maximum dimensions of 368 meter in length and a beam of 51 meters.

Luiz Antonio Alves, CEO of TCP commented “We are truly delighted to have received this permission by the Port Authorities, which will set new standards for ports in Brazil and the region as a whole. Above all, it will allow our customers to bring even larger ships to TCP and thereby reduce their unit costs. This will bring benefits to both the carriers and the Brazilian exporters and importers”

TCP has gone through a remarkable transformation since the facility, in early 2011, was acquired by Advent International, a U.S based private equity firm. From being the one of worst performing container terminals in Brazil, with an average berth productivity of less than 30 container moves per hour in 2010, the terminal today regularly exceeds 100 moves per hour. The average for November was 79 mph which places the port’s productivity on par with ports in North America and Europe.

A 315 m extension of the terminal is under construction and scheduled to be completed by November 2013. This will expand TCP’s berth capacity to more than 1.5 mill TEU.