Worker Dies in Accident at Peru's Chancay Megaport Project

Hong Kong-based Cosco Shipping Ports said on Saturday that a worker died in an early-morning accident at a megaport it is building on Peru's Pacific coast.

The worker was doing sanding and painting work at the deepwater Chancay Port Terminal when the accident occurred, the company said in a statement.

The company said it was investigating the circumstances of the incident and was coordinating with authorities.

Cosco, which began developing Chancay port in 2019 as a hub in the South American Pacific, is at the center of a dispute over the terms of its operations.

In 2021, Peru's National Port Authority (APN) awarded Cosco the exclusive right to run Chancay, but said in March that it never had the legal authority to grant it. It blamed an "administrative error" and requested that a judge void the terms.

The company has said it expects the port to begin operating in November in conjunction with the Asia-Pacific leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

(Reuters - Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle, Editing by Franklin Paul)