By Gabriel Campos Roullet
The San Antonio Port Company (EPSA) reported that the award of the enabling works for the Puerto Exterior project will suffer a delay with respect to its original planning.
The postponement is due to the new bidding mechanism announced by the state-owned company to execute the initiative, which divides the tender into two processes, one for the initial works and another for the construction of the breakwater.
It should be recalled that with this modification, the tender that was in development was rendered void, which was planned to be awarded within the second half of 2026.
In a press conference given by the president of the EPSA board of directors, Sergio Merino, the new timeframes of the project were announced, which has been classified by government authorities as “strategic” in nature.
In this regard, the head of EPSA stated that “regarding the timelines for the bidding of the enabling works, these are relatively simple works, we will probably have the award in the second quarter of next year (2027) and the first works will begin at the end of that year.”
On the other hand, Merino was emphatic in pointing out that this delay does not mean a change in the roadmap of the Puerto Exterior de San Antonio, since the planning of the central work – breakwater – remains as it was in the previous scheme.
“The fact that we do not start this year with the first works does not affect the complete development of the project. Here, the important thing we have to work on is when I will be able to move the first TEU, that is the goal, we continue maintaining the idea that we must be operational by 2036,” he indicated.
Furthermore, Merino stated that “these are very large projects, we try to mitigate as much as possible the risks of cost overruns and schedule overruns with prior engineering studies, but I cannot assure that we will not have delays; if someone assures you that they will not have delays in a project, they are lying to you.”
In relation to the companies that were prequalified in the tender that was rendered void (seven in total, among consortia and companies), the president of the board indicated that all of them were notified of the decision in advance, adding that “in many cases they told us that it was a kind of ‘relief’, since for them it is much better to focus on what they are experts in, such as the construction of breakwaters.”
The head of the state-owned company added that “if they want to participate in the new process, they do not need to submit the same papers to us.”
At the same time, Sergio Merino took the opportunity to make a call to the community of San Antonio, pointing out that the new bidding mechanism in no case means that the initiative is stalled.
“This is not an abandonment of the project, I want to be very emphatic, what this does is make the initiative viable and be able to start even without having all the financing, we are going to start the enabling works with the CAF credit plus the company’s own funds. EPSA’s commitment is to be super financially responsible and with our contractors. I cannot sign a contract in which I do not have certainty of how I am going to finance it.”
Finally, regarding the tender for the construction of the breakwater, the senior executive stated that the bidding will open during the first half of 2028.
