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The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has declared the procurement of a port terminal null and void.

None of the four companies that pre-qualified for the Corozal Container Terminal PPP project presented bids.

As we reported in February 2016, ACP launched the project and in April, the names of the four pre-qualified companies able to bid were announced: APM Terminals B.V. (The Netherlands); PSA International Pte., Ltd. (Singapore), Terminal Link (France); and Terminal Investment Limited, S.A. (The Netherlands). The Authority extended previous deadlines for bids twice to allow more time for bidders to participate in the tender process.

The ACP had received documentation from other companies interested in the pre-qualification for the project. These were Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (Japan), Manzanillo International Terminal - Panama, S.A. (Panama), and Ports America Terminal Holdings II, Inc. (USA), which haven't entered into the shortlist.

The concession involved the design, developmet, finance, construction, operation and maintainance of a container terminal located near Corozal, in the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal. The project entailed an overall investment of approximate US$500 million.

The project would have entailed the construction of 2,081 meters of docks and 120 hectares of storage facilities to accommodate up to five post-Panamax ships at once and handle 5.2m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year. It also included building two 500-meter rail lines to connect the facility to the national network.

As part of the Panama Canal Diversification Strategy, the Corozal Container Terminal had the objective to play an important role in providing additional port capacity on the Pacific side of Panama in order to support the transshipment needs of the larger vessels going through the Expanded Panama Canal. The project was going to add to the waterway's already robust set of offerings for the maritime industry and further position Panama as the logistics hub of the Americas.