MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina-Chile Inter-oceanic corridor launched

The governor of Rio Negro, Miguel Saiz, launched the inter-oceanic cargo corridor, a project based on the use of the province's railway and the Cardenal Samoré throughway to link Puerto Montt and Puerto Corral, in Chile, to the deep water provincial ports of San Antonio Este and Punta Colorada.

The corridor requires the construction of a cargo transfer hub in Bariloche, to move the cargo from the train onto trucks, while the project's main infrastructure is already up and running.

The executive director of the Lakes Integration Committee, Ricardo Cabral, told reporters that "what is left to be done is very little in terms of an investment."

"The province is currently in talks with the Maesrk transporting company, which is very interested in the corridor and has planned to make the necessary investment to put it to work," he said.

According to an official, Maersk has the specific interest of using the corridor to replace the transportation of salmon from the Pacific, off Chile, to Europe, which currently rounds the Cape of Horns.

"This represents 20 weekly containers, which would make for an interesting starting point for the corridor," said Cabral.

Due to this interest, Maersk offered to install a crane in Bariloche, in the province of Río Negro, to transfer containers from trains to trucks, besides providing the electric equipment for the wagons's refrigerators, necessary for the transport of salmon.

"The future of this corridor is very ample. The quantity of Chilean goods that can make their way from Chile through to San Antonio Este and Punta Colorada is huge, and likewise the number of European products that can make their way to Chile through Río Negro. It is an alternative to the Panama Canal and the corridor that goes from Buenos Aires to Mendoza," he said.