The San Antonio Outer Port Authority has added the Acciona-Deme consortium (Spain-Belgium) and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. (Korea) to the prequalified companies in the international tender for the San Antonio Outer Port project, bringing the total to five.

The bidding process had already included Van Oord (Netherlands), Jan de Nul (Belgium), and China Harbour Engineering Company CHEC (China). The tender consists of the award of a contract for the construction of the approximately 4-km breakwater, dredging to create the basin, backup areas and access roads, and environmental compensation and mitigation measures. 

Puerto Exterior contemplates the construction of a breakwater wall nearly 4 km long, which will have two semi-automated terminals, each 1,730 meters long, with the capacity to receive up to eight vessels each 400 meters long simultaneously, the largest currently sailing in the world. At full operation of the four phases of the project, Puerto Exterior will have the capacity to transfer 6 million TEUs per year, equivalent to nearly 60 million tons of cargo. Puerto San Antonio can currently handle up to 2.5 million TEUs per year. The project includes a comprehensive investment plan estimated at USD 4.45 billion, of which USD 1.95 billion will be contributed by the San Antonio Port Company for the construction of breakwaters, basin generation, backup areas, and access roads, in addition to environmental mitigation and compensation measures. The remaining USD 2.5 billion will be contributed by the private sector, through port concessions, for the construction, development, and operation of the sites. Puerto Exterior will begin operating its first phase, with 865 meters of dock, around 2036, adding an available capacity of 1.5 million TEUs per year.