The fight over Costa Rica’s Puerto Caldera concession has intensified after the Philippine terminal operator, International Container Terminal Services, secured a formal review of the award granted to a consortium backed by the liner giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.
Costa Rica’s Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) has admitted ICTSI’s appeal against the 30-year concession process, opening a review into alleged irregularities surrounding the award to Consorcio Sunset.
The consortium, formed by Maersk’s APM Terminals and Hapag-Lloyd’s Hanseatic Global Terminals, was approved in March by the board of the Costa Rican Institute of Pacific Ports (INCOP) following a public tender process aimed at modernising the country’s main Pacific gateway.
Puerto Caldera is Costa Rica’s most important Pacific port and the country’s main cargo link to Asia, while also serving trade routes to the US. The terminal currently operates at around 95% capacity, leading to growing congestion and delays.
The planned concession includes major upgrades to port infrastructure and equipment designed to improve efficiency, increase throughput and strengthen the competitiveness of Costa Rica’s Pacific trade corridor.
Around 80% of cargo moving through Puerto Caldera is import traffic, including all cereals and bulk fertilisers consumed in the country, while the terminal also handles roughly one-third of Costa Rica’s agricultural exports.
ICTSI argued it was improperly excluded from the tender process before the final award was made.
According to the company, INCOP initially confirmed ICTSI met the tender’s debt-to-equity ratio requirements before later reversing its position and disqualifying the operator.
The exclusion effectively left the Maersk-Hapag-backed consortium as the sole remaining bidder.
“We welcome the CGR’s decision as a first step toward correcting a process plagued by irregularities and lack of transparency,” said Bart Wiersum, ICTSI’s director of business development for the Americas.
ICTSI claimed the evaluation committee altered the methodology used to calculate debt-to-equity ratios without technical justification, changing the company’s ratio from a compliant 1.33 to a non-compliant 2.16 despite no changes to the submitted financial data.
The company has also questioned the transparency of the consortium’s financial disclosures, citing allegations from former congressman Eli Feinzaig that more than 60% of Consorcio Sunset’s financial documentation in the tender file was illegible.
Beyond financial concerns, ICTSI’s appeal also targets the consortium’s technical proposal.
According to the filing, independent engineering experts identified potential shortcomings in berth configuration and simultaneous vessel operations, arguing that the proposed design may not fully comply with international safety standards required under the tender.
ICTSI further claimed that weather and wave conditions could reduce actual berth availability below the levels outlined in the consortium’s proposal.
The Philippine operator has additionally raised competition concerns surrounding the partnership between APM Terminals and Hanseatic Global Terminals, arguing both companies had the capacity to participate separately in the process.
The appeal alleged INCOP failed to notify Costa Rica’s competition authority, COPROCOM, about possible antitrust concerns linked to the consortium structure.
The CGR has now granted INCOP and Consorcio Sunset five business days to respond to the allegations.
Under Costa Rican procedures, the watchdog is expected to issue a ruling within 40 business days, although that timeline may be extended by another 15 business days.
The timing is critical given that the current Puerto Caldera concession expires in August 2026, leaving little margin for prolonged delays to a project considered central to Costa Rica’s future trade infrastructure.
The dispute also adds another chapter to the growing rivalry between ICTSI and Maersk-linked terminal interests in global port tenders.
Last year in Durban, ICTSI successfully defended its appointment as operator of a container terminal after a court dismissed a challenge backed by Maersk interests seeking to overturn the award. That case centred on claims surrounding procurement and evaluation procedures, echoing some of the issues now being raised in Costa Rica.
