Contecon Manzanillo (CMSA), International Container Terminal Services' (ICTSI) Mexican unit, has received approval to handle ships with draughts of up to 15.5 metres.
ICTSI said CMSA is now the only terminal operator at the Port of Manzanillo with this capability.
CMSA is now able to serve vessels up to 400 metres long, including ultra large container vessels capable of carrying up to 24,000 TEUs.
José Antonio Contreras, CMSA CEO, said the company's goal is to achieve an operational draught of 17 metres at the terminal's new berths, thus allowing larger vessels and greater container volumes to be accommodated.
The approval came as as port authority Administración del Sistema Portuario Nacional Manzanillo continues dredging and basin-conditioning works to accommodate deeper-draught vessels.
Following the completion of phase 3A in 2025, CMSA increased its annual capacity to more than 1.77 million TEUs. Since then, capacity has increased to approximately 1.8 million TEUs per annum.
CMSA is also advancing phase 3B of its expansion program, which includes an additional 227 metres of quay and the acquisition of two quay cranes (QCs) and nine rubber-tired gantry (RTG) cranes. Currently, the terminal operates 12 QCs, 43 RTG cranes, and other container and cargo-handling equipment.
ICTSI expects that once operational, phase 3B will further increase CMSA's annual capacity to two million TEUs.
