- Manzanillo International Terminal
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Location of Manzanillo International TerminalManzanilllo International Terminal (abbreviation: MIT, UN/LOCODE: PAMIT) is located located east of the Atlantic opening of the Panama Canal on the Manzanillo Bay, Colón Province, Republic of Panama.
MIT is a distribution center for cargoes destined for cities within the Republic of Panama and neighboring countries in Central America and the Caribbean. It is one of the biggest container transhipment terminals of the region and has direct access into the Colon Free Trade Zone (CFZ).
Contents
History
Aerial view of the U.S. Naval Station Coco Solo in 1941
The project area, known as South Coco Solo, was a U.S. Navy Seaplane Base during the World War II era. The base was reverted back to Panama under the Torrijos–Carter Treaties of 1977.
During the 1980s, the area was used as a storage facility and distribution center of vehicles for Latin America. Wanting to avoid the additional costs and logistics associated with moving the cars to and from Cristobal, it is decided to build a Ro-ro (Roll-On/Roll-Off) berth at their distribution/storage facility and thereby directly import and export their vehicles on site. Thus, the original concept of MIT was born.
By August 1993, with the entry of the multi-national SSA Marine, the original Ro-ro berth concept grew into a project to create a world-class container transshipment facility, fully equipped with over 1200 meters of berth, ship-to-shore gantry cranes and modern terminal management computer systems.
MIT started operations on April 16, 1995.
Geographical Information
- MIT's Geographical Position is 9°21′43″N 79°52′56″W / 9.361958°N 79.882089°WCoordinates: 9°21′43″N 79°52′56″W / 9.361958°N 79.882089°W.
- The access channel is 3.0 kilometers from sea buoy.
- The breakwater opening is 200 meters wide and the access channel has a depth of 14.0 meters.
- The turning basin diameter is 600 meters.
Storage
The terminal's total area is 520,000 square meters, with a container storage capacity of 37,000 TEU, a Container repair yard with 15,000m2 including 1300m2 undercover repair facility and connections for 1,145 refrigerated containers.
Berthing
- Main berth: 1240 meters of contiguous container berth with -14 meters depth alongside.
- Extra berth: 400 meters of container berth with a depth of -14 meters alongside.
- Ro-ro berth: 300-meter "Mediterranean-style" ro-ro berth with a depth of -12.5 meters alongside
All berths +2.5 meters above MSL (mean sea level). Tide variance is 30 centimeter.
Government
Panama’s Quarantine and Customs departments have offices at the Manzanillo International Terminal and can register clearances on MIT’s Mainsail information system. The Manzanillo International Terminal is a phyto-zoosanitary zone certified by Panama’s agriculture department and can handle sensitive agricultural products.
Awards
The United Kingdom’s Containerisation International named the Manzanillo International Terminal one of the world’s ten most efficient ports, and it has been recognized three times as the “Best Container Terminal in the Caribbean” by the Caribbean Shipping Association.
External links
Categories:- Container terminals
- Ports and harbours of Panama
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