State-of-the-art technology and systems

2015, October 1: Haiti’s first Panamax port and the Caribbean’s newest world-standard marine container terminal began operations in June 2015. Port Lafito, with state-of-the-art technology and systems, has operating partners in the Port Authority of Haiti, SSA Marine, the world’s largest independent and privately-held marine terminal operator, and Tideworks Technology. Port Lafito partnered with SSA Marine to oversee the port and terminal operations.

Port Lafito started operations with two Liebherr LHM 420 mobile harbour cranes, the first of their kind in the Caribbean. With 124 metric tonnes maximum load capacity (with 35.8 load capacity on the hook at 48 meters radius), the Liebherr cranes can produce over 30 moves per hour. They are diesel-powered units with high-energy efficiency. Their remote wireless monitoring tracks system status and key statistics, including regular alerts that allow the operations team to maintain rapid crane uptime.

Other port equipment include two Taylor reach stackers, two Taylor top loaders, one Taylor 30,000 lb. forklift, 10 bomb carts, 10 mules, 200 chassis and 16 trucks.

Port Lafito

THE INVESTORS

The multi-million dollar project, led by GB Group, is a private, public and international partnership between the government of Haiti, the Haitian private sector and international financial institutions, including the Haitian state bank — Banque Nationale de Credit SA, Capital Bank, Fond de Developpement Industriel, the International Finance Corporation, Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV – the Dutch development bank, and Nationale D’assurance SA.

The GB Group is a leading, diversified group of industrial and trading companies in the Caribbean, with operations concentrated in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and St. Maarten and offices in the United States. The group comprises 21 companies in seven different divisions: agriculture, construction, consumer goods, infrastructure, energy, logistics and trading. It employs more than 4,000persons with managers from more than 15 countries. Port Lafito is a part of the group’s $200 million Lafito Global project.

DEEPEST PORT IN HAITI

Port Lafito, the deepest port in Haiti, started life with 12.5 metres of safe draft and 450 metres of berthing. A second phase of development will increase lateral berthing to 900 metres. Similarly, the quay side terminal is to be doubled in area from the present 130,000 square metres (13 hectares) in the second phase of development. In addition, it has a dry terminal in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

The inland terminal, already in operation at Chancerelles, right in the heart of the city’s traditional industrial sector, is a 5-minute drive from the Port-au-Prince International Airport. It has 50,000 m2 of yard space and 30,000 square feet of customs-bonded warehouse to handle in-bound LCL containers as well as LCL export shipments to be consolidated or palletized as air cargo when required. It also has Customs clearing facilities.

Agreements have reportedly been finalized with Evergreen Marine and King Ocean Services to include Lafito as a port of call.  In addition, an international sister seaport agreement was signed between Port Lafito and the Port of Miami in order to collaborate on the exchange of information and ideas, with the aim to increase cargo and trade between ports.

“Port Lafito will breathe new life into Haiti by creating new jobs, training for skilled labor, and encouraging foreign investment and development. This project will make a significant impact on the national economy and have a beneficial impact on the more than 10 million people that live here,” said Reuven Bigio, CEO of GB Group. “We are proud to announce that the day has come where we can help bring Haiti to the forefront of modern logistics. None of this would have been possible without the support from our public and private partners, for which we are very grateful.” []

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________________

PORT FACILITIES

      • Operations managed by SSA Marine
      • Software Operations with Tideworks Terminal Management Solutions
      • Quay side Terminal of 130,000 m2 (13 hectares) to be 260,000 m2 at the completion of phase 2
      • 450 meters of berth for offloading & loading operations to be 900 meters at the completion of phase 2
      • At 12.5 meters of safe draft, it is the deepest port in Haiti
      • Administration Building – for personnel, customs, port authority, security etc.
      • State of the art cranes
      • New terminal container handlers
      • Vessel mooring/unmooring services
      • Container terminal includes reefer services
      • 24 Hour security
      • ISPS and C-TPAT certified