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New Puerto Rico port will use flat-rate tariff

New Puerto Rico port will use flat-rate tariff

The long-dormant Port of Mayaguez in Puerto Rico, which came under the control of an independent local port commission in 2004, plans to use a flat-rate tariff for carriers to stimulate business as the port is modernized.

   Dennis Bechara, the Mayaguez native who is president of the port commission and a former attorney for the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, told the Caribbean Shipping Association Executive Conference in Puerto Rico Monday that the use of an all-inclusive tariff will simplify matter for carriers, who normally pay a series of charges for services from wharfage to pilotage.

   Bechara said he knew the practice was different, and told industry executives gathered from around the Caribbean: 'In a way, and I think in a good way, this will impact the rest of the Caribbean.'

   He said he did not see the move as a way to compete with Puerto Rico's primary port in San Juan. Instead, he said it would attract new business to Mayaguez, located on the West Coast of Puerto Rico.

   He said Mayaguez could also attract calls by cruise lines by marketing the port as a U.S. port of entry for ships returning to the United States from other Caribbean islands.

   The Port of Mayaguez last week approved a contract to have the port basically redeveloped by a Netherlands-based consortium, the JMG-Holland Group. One of the partners is the Port of Rotterdam.

   The initial contract calls for spending $4 million to improve the existing 19-acre port for cruise business. But the commission has long-term plans to spend $600 million to expand the port, including for use by cargo carriers. The port is also working to have an adjacent 200 acres for use by both the port and as an industrial park.

   The government of Puerto Rico has allocated $1.7 billion for development in western Puerto Rico, including the port expansion.

   For decades, the Port of Mayaguez was under the control of the Puerto Rico Port Authority. Bechara said the port authority focused almost exclusively on San Juan, and officials in Mayaguez lobbied to have the governor of Puerto Rico create an independent port commission, which was created in 2004.

   'We've come a long way since 2004,' Bechara said.