The Colon Container Terminal is
located in Colon, Panama, a seaport on the eastern Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. Capital of Colon Province,
Colon was originally located on Manzanillo Island near the Manzanillo
International Terminal with Limon Bay to the west and Manzanillo Bay to the
east. Since the Canal Zone was returned to Panama, Colon has expanded to
include several surrounding towns and Fort Gulick, a former US Army base. In
2000, Colon was home to over 42 thousand people.
The Colon Container Terminal is
located in Coco Solo North on the Atlantic Coast of the Republic of Panama at
the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. Built on the site of a former US
Navy base, the Colon Container Terminal opened for business in 1997 as an inter-modal
hub for ocean-going cargo. Being relatively new to the commercial seaborne
traffic scene, the Colon Container Terminal is a modern port that specializes
in containerized cargo, general cargo, and rolling stock. It offers
state-of-the-art technology and efficient cargo transshipment services.
Port History
In 1850, citizens of the United States founded the City of
Colon as the eastern terminus of the Panama
Railroad to help provide a relatively fast route from the East Coast to
California during the famous Gold Rush. For
many years, many US citizens lived there, calling it Aspinwall, while the
native population called it Colon (Spanish for Columbus).
Originally founded on marshy Manzanillo Island, Colon and
what would become the Colon Container Terminal was connected to the mainland by
a causeway for the railroad. The marsh was drained so that buildings could be
constructed.
During an 1885 Colombian civil war, much of the city was
burned. It was again plagued by fire in 1915. In 1948, southeast Manzanillo
Island was made the Colon Free Trade Zone that has been expanded through
additional land reclamations.
At its height, Colon was a buzzing nightlife center with
clubs, movies, and cabarets. Its citizens took pride in their city. However,
riots in the 1960s that were politically inspired destroyed the town’s
wonderful municipal palace and started a long and sad decline. This decline was
helped along by military dictatorships that lasted from the late 1960s to 1989.
Colon has been a city in crisis since the 1960s.
Unemployment is very high, and poverty is rampant. Crime and violence are
problems, and drug addiction and poverty make the situation worse.
In 1994, the Evergreen Group proposed the new Colon Container Terminal. They established a
subsidiary company, Colon Container Terminal, S.A., in 1995 to implement the
proposal.
In 1997, the Colon Container
Terminal was constructed on the site of a former US Naval base. In 2003, a
second phase of construction began, adding about 12 hectares of land and Pier
No. 3 to the Colon Container Terminal.
In 2008, the Colon Container Terminal began Phase III,
adding a new 320-meter long, 15-meter deep Pier 4 and a new container yard for
storing cargo.
Port Commerce
Colon Container
Terminal, S.A., is the port authority for the terminal. Located at the
eastern mouth of the Panama Canal, the Colon Container Terminal is well-placed
strategically to serve cargo transshipments between the Caribbean Sea as well
as commercial vessels traveling the Atlantic and Pacific as well as North and
South America.
The Colon Container Terminal covers over 74 hectares.
The Colon Container Terminal’s access channel has a 600-meter radius turning
basin, a draft of is 14 meters, and a 200-meter wide breakwater. Piers 1 and 2
have alongside depth of 14 meters, and Pier 3 has alongside depth of 15 meters.
The Colon Container Terminal contains 984 reefer plugs, an inspection ramp, and
phyto-sanitory zones certified to handle agricultural products. The Colon
Container Terminal contains a high-risk area for 400 TEUs of containerized cargo.
The Panama Canal Railway Company has rail connections adjacent to the Colon
Container Terminal. The Colon Container Terminal also has a maintenance and
repair shop that is available 24 hours a day to do minor repair work on
containers.
Cruising and Travel
The City of Colon
and the Colon Container Terminal are not a popular tourist destination, yet the
area has many beautiful beaches, historic sites, and many opportunities to
enjoy the outdoors.
Portobelo,
a little over 30 kilometers to the northeast of the Colon Container Terminal,
is a beautiful bayside town that contains the ruins of five Spanish forts and a
Spanish treasure house that was a center for shipping Peruvian gold and other
Latin American treasures back to Spain. When Sir Francis Drake and other
English pirates arrived, they looted the town’s treasures and brought about its
decline. Drake was buried in a lead coffin near Portobelo. Today, the Portbelo
ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
An hour’s drive from the Colon Container Terminal is Isla Grande, Panama’s
most popular island vacation location. With a glorious beach, its clear waters
are great for diving, snorkeling, surfing, boat-riding, and simply relaxing in
the golden sunshine. The island has a wide range of accommodations and many
waterfront restaurants and bars that make vacationing a truly relaxing
experience.
Located at the mouth of the Chagres River on Limon Bay, Fort San Lorenzo was
built at the 1595 order of King Philip II of Spain in to protect the passageway
to Panama City. With a wonderful view of the river’s mouth and the sea, the
fort was attacked by pirate Henry Morgan in the 1670s who destroyed the first
wooden fort and killed its defenders. Today’s ruins replaced the earlier
structure. The fort was a key military outpost and, after that, a prison until
Panama won independence from Spain in 1821. Today, Fort San Lorenzo is a
national park in a protected natural area, although it is not well-maintained.
Guides are recommended, since there are few signs or tourist information. This
is a wonderful place to wander and imagine 400 years of history.
When Canopy
Tours began, they were designed for scientists who wanted to study the
biodiversity of the forest canopy. Today, several canopy tour companies operate
in the Panamanian Atlantic coast. The Canopy Rio Piedras is about an hour from
Colon. You swing through the trees, made safe with rigging and gear, between
platforms more than 100 feet off the ground. Appropriately called an
adrenaline-line factory, the tour is not for the faint of heart, but it is
definitely an adventure. You can also enjoy hiking trails and river tubing at
the site which is on the way to Portobelo.
Travelers who want to see Colon and the Colon Container
Terminal as well as eastern Panama can find a list of scheduled cruises
on the Cruise Compete website.
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