17-Oct-2002

[Panama – 17th October 2002] Panama Ports Company, S.A. (PPC) handled its highest ever container volume from a single vessel, the Maersk Marit, with 1,784 container moves, at a productivity rate of 34 moves per hour, on Monday, 14th October 2002.

The port of Balboa is ideally located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal to serve as transhipment hub for cargo from/to Asia to/from West Coast of Latin America. Balboa also serves as the Pacific entrance to the Colon free Zone, the largest of the western hemisphere, as well as to provide a strategic link for cargo going to the Caribbean and the East Coast of Latin America by using rail or trucking connections.

Commenting on this event Mr. Alejandro Kouruklis, General Manager of PPC, said:

“We are delighted with this important milestone, which signifies our ability to provide world class service to our customers. Nearly two years after the inauguration of the Port of Balboa it has consolidated itself as the largest transhipment port of the West Coast of Latin America, playing a key role in the transpacific trade for the benefit of Panama and the Latin Americas regions.”