In a decision that changes the operational landscape of the Port of Buenos Aires, the Government published decree /2025 which grants the National Agency of Ports and Navigation (ANPyN) the status of conceding authority for terminals 1, 2, 3, and 4; approves a new scheme and delimitation of areas, and calls for Private Initiative to develop a cruise terminal and a /commercial area on piers 4 and 5.
The objectives: modernize the infrastructure, gain dock draft, operate larger vessels, strengthen the port’s competitiveness in the region, recognize the economic value of the cruise industry, and promote greater integration between the Port and the City of Buenos Aires through tourism.
Private investment
In line with the structural decisions of the current Administration, the new stage of the Port of Buenos Aires contemplates the necessary measures to lead to administrative simplification and a greater role for the private sector.
Decree /2025 approves the new design of the Port of Buenos Aires, delimiting the new areas, and therefore repeals decree /23 of the previous government.
For cargo, terminals 1, 2, and 3 are designated for international logistics operations. Meanwhile, touristic, commercial, and cruise activities will be located on piers 4 and 5.
On the other hand, the design contemplates aspects of the two plans developed in previous administrations and seeks an evolution and improvement of them.
Port modernization
The decree itself links the modernization of docks and access with the need to operate vessels of a design with 366 m in length, 52 m in beam, and 14,000 TEU capacity, already anticipated in the traffic arriving on the east coast of South America (ECSA).
It also points out that ports competing with Buenos Aires have docks suitable for dredging to 12 m, and that the growth of cruises in Buenos Aires requires exclusive space, avoiding overlap with cargo. The new scheme clearly separates both activities and bets on private investment.
City-Port Integration
Then, by assigning a central and exclusive space to cruise passengers and the commercial and touristic services industry, the economic value of the activity and its vector of integration with the City of Buenos Aires is made explicit.
Thus, the intended final development acknowledges the necessary modernization of the port infrastructure without forgetting both the incipient urbanization of the Puerto Nuevo area and the profile of ports located in large cities and tourist capitals, where cargo and passenger spaces are naturally and necessarily segregated.
