The project to enable the ferry service between the ports of Caldera, Costa Rica and La Unión, El Salvador is still stranded in the midst of bureaucratic procedures in both countries.
It has been a year and a half since the project was proposed by the Government of Luis Guillermo Solís as part of the plan launched by the Executive in September 2015 to boost the national economy.
Over the last few months, the operation has been postponed twice. On July 11th last year, Jorge Mora, general director of the Maritime and Airport Division of MOPT, said that the operation would begin on July 28th, but at the last moment it was also postponed.
Deputy Minister of Commerce John Fonseca said that on March 8th, the representatives of the shipping company will come to the country to finalize some details of the operation.
Fonseca stated that governmental requirements from both countries were met, but the firm requested new procedures by the end of the previous year.
The company in charge of providing the service is the shipping company Odiel. The ferry is intended to lower the cost of moving goods between the two countries.
It is estimated that the journey takes about 16 hours, while loading and unloading goods would take from five to six hours in each country.
The ferry will depart from El Salvador on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and from Costa Rica on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Annually, Costa Rica and El Salvador bill about $1 billion in exports and imports.
The service will start with two trips per week and the ship would have capacity to transport about 100 containers per route. Those interested will have to pay $700 to $ 900 per truck, meaning that they would save up to 30% or more in logistics costs, according to calculations provided by the MOPT.