San Antonio port and Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications held successful meeting in Madrid with companies interested in building Outer Port

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Spanish.

Release from Empresa Portuaria San Antonio.

A large and successful of from companies specializing in the construction of ports, dredging and development of mega infrastructure led to the information event organized on Tuesday, April 23, by the Empresa Portuaria San Antonio in Madrid, Spain, to present the technical aspects and the main construction works entailed by the development of the Outer Port, the most important port project in the history of Chile, which will have two terminals of 1,730 meters each and a total cargo transfer capacity of 6 million TEUs, this That is, over 60 million tons annually.

The meeting, which is part of the public call for Expression of Interest initiated on April 2 by Puerto San Antonio, included the participation of the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications , Juan Carlos Muñoz; the Ambassador of Chile to Spain, Javier Velasco; port authorities of Spain, international banks and executives of engineering and construction companies from different countries.

The meeting was led by the CEO of Empresa Portuaria San Antonio, Ramón Castañeda, and by Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz.

The meeting in Madrid brought together more than 70 executives from Spain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium, who, in addition to learning about the characteristics of the project, the main construction works and the associated deadlines, were able to meet with different representatives of the port company to clear up doubts.

During the day, an important meeting was also held with the participation of the Ministerial Advisor of the Outer Port, Sabah Zrari; the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Juan Carlos Muñoz; the Director of the 2030 Agenda of the World Network of City Ports (AIVP), José Sánchez; the Head of the Development Area of the Port of Algeciras, Juan Antonio Patrón, and executives of Empresa Portuaria San Antonio, who shared the progress and work on sustainability, specifically in the relationship that must exist between the port and territorial development of the cities that host ports. At this meeting, practices and programs were learned to establish work with the communities, linking port growth to the local reality in order to generate a better quality of life and comprehensive progress for the city of San Antonio.

LARGE CALL

Along with applauding the participation of the authorities and companies that attended the event in Madrid, Ramón Castañeda stressed that this milestone “is very important because these national and international companies that we have invited to the Expression of Interest have extensive experience in construction methods. We have a project with very advanced detailed engineering, however, it is relevant, in a work of this magnitude and complexity, to be able to talk with experts about the best alternatives to carry out our project.”

The CEO of Puerto San Antonio highlighted that the information meeting made it possible to provide details of the different works of the project, as well as the procedure for the Expression of Interest and future tenders. "In the coming months we will hold conversations with companies that express interest in the project works, forming a registry of companies with which we will share detailed information about the Outer Port, subject to a confidentiality agreement, to reach the end of this year with a set of companies that are familiar with the project, have given us feedback and so we can address the bidding process itself,” he said.

In turn, Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz stated that “it is very impressive to see the number of companies that have been in this presentation of our Outer Port for San Antonio, and also the presence of international banks and organizations that finance this type of projects, who help us gather the necessary resources for an investment of this magnitude.” He added that it is very valuable that important construction and dredging companies have attended the event with Puerto San Antonio, which, according to him, “is a good starting point in the context of the call for Expressions of Interest for the Outer Port project, which is the most important we have in terms of port infrastructure in Chile in a century.”

Muñoz highlighted that Outer Port “is an emblematic and structural project for Chile's logistics chain and that it is located in the port of San Antonio, which is where the largest amount of foreign trade takes place in Chile, especially in value, and it is located in the area where the largest number of our country's population lives, being fundamental for the development of Chile's transportation and logistics systems. This project is among the most important that our government is carrying out in terms of transportation, and it also transcends governments.” He added that "we hope to make progress on environmental issues, to be able to come out with the first tenders associated with the complementary works of the project, as well as the breakwater."

The Chilean Ambassador to Spain, Javier Velasco, also highlighted the high number of companies that Puerto San Antonio attracted and expressed that the “Outer Port is a very interesting project for our country due to several circumstances, ranging from the economic to the geostrategic.” He highlighted that at this meeting in Madrid, environmental and sustainability issues linked to projects of this magnitude were also addressed.

For the President of Ports for the State of Spain, Alvaro Rodríguez, the Outer Port “is a very important project for Chile and is very similar to projects that we have developed in Spain, mainly the southern expansion of the port of Barcelona.” He also highlighted that the organization model of this type of initiatives, in which there is public-private collaboration, will allow sharing of experiences between Chile and Spain for port development.

Bart Rumes, Business Development Manager of the company Boskalis, from the Netherlands, pointed out that the meeting “was very good” because it allowed access to “the project information that is available, the studies that have already been done, the phases, the construction of shelter works. Personally, for me, as a representative of Boskalis, I am interested in sanitation dredging, construction dredging and then dredging between the docks to fill the breakwater. The Outer Port project is very important for the country and the future of exports and imports and so that Chile can continue with trade on the West Coast (the Pacific) and also compete with neighboring countries to attract global cargo from Asia and Europe. It is a very necessary project, he stressed.

Claudio Pirolo, Commercial Manager of the Belgian company Deme Group, stated that “I found it to be a very interesting project and presentation; The presence of the Minister of Transportation also gives strength to the project because the Chilean government requires it to be developed. We are very interested (in this project), there is a lot of dredging, but there are also civil works. Deme Group is very involved in marine construction, dredging and renewable energy, so there is a very good opportunity for us. For Chile this is a very large port development and it will boost the local economy much more.”

WORKS AND MANIFESTATION OF INTEREST

The Expression of Interest corresponds to the invitation made by Puerto San Antonio to Chilean and international companies that are interested in building the enabling works of the Outer Port, as well as the breakwater, the dredging of the dock and the access works and common areas to support the new mega port terminal.

On the one hand, there are the prior or enabling works for the construction of the Outer Port, which must be executed between 2026 and 2028. These consider the connection roads with the quarry area from where the rocks that will be used for the construction will be extracted for the breakwater and the implementation of a railway transfer station, together with the provision of railway access to the construction perimeter and storage areas.

A second stage is actually the construction works of the breakwater, which will have an extension of approximately 4 kilometers, and the deep dredging for the dock of the new mega terminal, which must be carried out between 2028 and 2034.

Finally, between 2034 and 2036, the other common works will be developed, which consist of road and rail accesses, support areas and basic services.

This set of works will have an estimated cost of 1.5 billion dollars, which will be fully financed by Puerto San Antonio and include environmental mitigation and compensation works.

Subsequently, the concessionaire companies will develop the two terminals with an estimated investment of 2.5 billion dollars. In total, this initiative will require an investment of approximately 4 billion dollars.

Once the construction of the first two berthing sites of the sea terminal is completed, the Outer Port will be able to begin operations in 2036.

The Outer Port will have eight berths in two terminals of 1,730 meters each and will be prepared to receive state-of-the-art container ships of 400 meters in length.

The Expression of Interest aims to form a registry of companies specialized and experienced in large-scale port and/or maritime projects, with which, through a formal and systematic process, technical information will be shared so that they have the opportunity to understand the characteristics of all the Outer Port works and express their observations and suggestions in advance of the calls for public bidding for its construction.

The call for Expression of Interest will allow progress in the contract bidding process, which Puerto San Antonio would complete in the second half of 2025, at which time it is expected to have the Environmental Qualification Resolution.

Companies interested in having more detailed information about this invitation and that have creditable experience, should contact the San Antonio Port Company through the following email: eoi@puertosanantonio.com

Expressions of interest, together with the background of the relevant experience indicated, may be submitted until May 31, 2024.