The shipping company Maersk announced that it will stop using the port of Guayaquil to move, starting in January 2024, to the port of Posorja, with a greater draft and easier access for its container ships.
Referential photo of the Maersk shipping company in the Port of Guayaquil, on November 28, 2019.
Although Maersk’s announcement had been made at the end of November, it had an impact on December 5, 2023. Since, the ships of this shipping company will no longer reach the maritime terminal operated in Guayaquil by Contecon.
In exchange, they will unload and load merchandise at the Posorja port terminal operated by the DP World company at the entrance to the Gulf of Guayaquil. The waters of Posorja have a depth of 16.5 meters, instead of the 12.5 meters that the access channel has until reaching Guayaquil, located upstream of the Guayas River.
The change of port that the shipping company will make has generated reluctance in unions dedicated to the export of bananas, of which Ecuador is the world’s leading exporter. This is because they consider that this move will increase freight costs.
Of the 292.38 million boxes of bananas exported, between January and October 2023, Maersk was the second shipping company with the most cargo shipped, accumulating 22.78%, less than one point below MSC’s 23.72%. according to data from the latest report from the Banana Statistical Observatory.
Until now, the main port of departure for Ecuadorian bananas is Guayaquil, with 64.43% of shipments shipped at its terminals. Followed by Puerto Bolívar, in Machala, with 22.7%, while Posorja appears in third place with a share of 12.87% of the total exported.
