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TecPlata S.A. and the Port of Sta. Fe, have launched a barge feeder service, creating a new and direct link to Brazil and Asia
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TecPlata is International Container Terminal Services, Inc.’s business unit operating at the Port of La Plata, Argentina
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The service will have a minimum of two calls per month between Sta. Fe and La Plata
TecPlata S.A., the business unit of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) operating at the Port of La Plata, Argentina, and the Port of Sta. Fe, have launched a barge feeder service, creating a new and direct link to Brazil and Asia.
Launched on December 9, 2021, the service will have a minimum of two calls per month between Sta. Fe and La Plata that will provide connectivity for a market estimated at 80,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), ICTSI said in a statement.
It also serves as an alternative river connection to Argentina’s central, northeast and northwest regions.
From the Port of Sta. Fe, the first export containers were loaded onto Newport Management’s 500-TEU barge, Bagual.
Insuga S.A. and Adecoagro S.A. were the first companies to use the new service to export bone meal to Vietnam and milk powder to Singapore, respectively. The cargoes were discharged in TecPlata on December 13 and were loaded onto the Log-In vessel Jacarandá on December 15.
The Bagual departed from TecPlata on November 30, carrying empty containers to be used for the first exports.
An opening ceremony was held during the vessel’s arrival at the Port of Sta. Fe in the same week to mark the first connection between the two container terminals.
“We need this – an operator who brings the barges in at a timely manner. We need security in the transshipment done by the shipping companies to get to the final destination, avoiding traffic, complexity, and costs in transporting the cargo by truck to the Port of Buenos Aires,” Sta. Fe Governor Omar Perotte said during the event.
Aside from providing a lower inland cost alternative, ICTSI said the exclusive feeder service contributes significantly to the reduction of carbon emissions between Greater Buenos Aires and the country’s hinterland.
In October 2008, TecPlata S.A. was granted a 30-year concession to build and operate an all-purpose port terminal in the greater Buenos Aires area in Argentina by the Consorcio de Gestion del Puerto La Plata. Built with an investment of US$450 million, TecPlata is Argentina’s most modern container terminal with an initial capacity of 450,000 TEU capacity, and capable of being extended of up to 1 million TEUs in the second phase.
