The US port of Plaquemines and APM Terminals have signed a letter of intent to build a container terminal on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The stevedore, of which Maersk is a shareholder, currently operates four facilities in the USA.

APM Terminals should be able to count on the operation of a fifth container terminal in the United States. The stevedore, of which Maersk is a shareholder, has just signed a letter of intent with Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District, for the construction of a container terminal on the west bank of Plaquemines, Louisiana, some 80 km from the mouth of the Mississippi, where the river flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

The agreement provides for a 30-year concession contract with options for extension. APM Terminals estimates its initial investment at around $500 M$.

In the first phase of work, the stevedore plans to build a berth on a 90-hectare site capable of accommodating the largest vessels currently passing through the enlarged Panama Canal - the 14,000 TEU neo-panamaxes - as well as quayside rail sidings.

New gateway to the United States

In a second phase - the site has a total surface area of 360 ha available for development - it is planned to expand the terminal and develop complementary logistics activities.

"In time, this new site will have all the potential to become one of the gateways for large ships to the United States," enthuses Wim Lagaay, APM Terminals' senior investment advisor to the US government.

A similar agreement with the same players and under the same terms had been signed in 2021, but it was conditional on the presence of a third-party "investor". The project did not come to fruition.

Le Journal de la marine marchande A.D