Port Freeport, Texas, has entered into negotiations with Madrid, Spain-based Dragados Servicios Portuariosy Logisticos for a "multi-decade contract" to jointly develop the port's Velasco Terminal.
The port is investing $42 million in development of the Velasco Terminal's initial phase, to include an 800-foot-long berth. When fully completed, the $225 million facility will have 1,200 linear feet of berth space, 90 acres of developed backland and the capability to handle more than 750,000 TEUs each year.
"Together, we will bring the Texas Gulf Coast a premier facility that represents our port's first major construction project in more than a quarter century, as well as the entry of Dragados into the U.S. port market,"said A.J. "Pete" Reixach Jr., Port Freeport executive port director.
Gina Wang, project development manager for Dragados SPL, said: "Dragados is the largest independent terminal operator in Spain and is also actively pursuing new terminal projects worldwide. We see the Velasco Terminal as an excellent opportunity to enter the U.S. market."
Port officials are working with U.S. Congress in the final stages of a feasibility study on widening and deepening the channel on which the Velasco Terminal is being developed. The channel has a depth of 45 feet. The port is also pressing the Texas Department of Transportation to widen Texas Highway 36, the main artery for the port's over-the-road truck traffic.
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