Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) is located on Manzanillo Bay at the eastern mouth of the Panama Canal adjacent to the Colon Container Terminal in Colon, Panama. The Manzanillo International Terminal opened for operations in 1995 next to the Colon Free Trade Zone. Manzanillo International Terminal - Panama, S.A. is the port authority for the Manzanillo International Terminal.

Manzanillo International Terminal is a distribution center for cargoes destined for cities within the Republic of Panama and neighboring countries in Central America and the Caribbean. The Manzanillo International Terminal is Panama’s only port with a direct, customs-free, and secure link to the Western Hemisphere’s biggest free zone, the Colon Free Zone.

Employing over 700 people, the Manzanillo International Terminal offers fully-automated gate and vessels systems, maintenance and repair services for containers, on-site office space, and 24-hour security. The United Kingdom’s Containerisation International named the Manzanillo International Terminal one of the world’s ten most efficient ports, and it has been recognized three times as the “Best Container Terminal in the Caribbean” by the Caribbean Shipping Association.

Panama’s Quarantine and Customs departments have offices at the Manzanillo International Terminal and can register clearances on MIT’s Mainsail information system. The Manzanillo International Terminal is a phyto-zoosanitary zone certified by Panama’s agriculture department and can handle sensitive agricultural products.

In 2007, the Manzanillo International Terminal welcomed 2100 vessels carrying 1.3 million TEUs of containerized cargo and 105.3 thousand roll-on/roll-off units.

The breakwater opening for the Manzanillo International Terminal is 200 meters wide with a depth of 14 meters, and it has a 600-meter diameter turning basin. Tidal variation is about 30 centimeters.

Manzanillo International Terminal covers 520 thousand square meters. It contains storage capacity for 37 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo and a 15 thousand square meter container repair yard that includes a 1.3 thousand square meters covered repair facility. The Manzanillo International Terminal also contains one thousand connections for refrigerated containers.

The Manzanillo International Terminal has 1240 meters of continuous container berth with alongside depth of 13 meters, 400 meters of container berth with alongside depth of 14 meters, and a 300-meter roll-on/roll-off berth with alongside depth of 14 meters. An intermodal railway ramp is adjacent to the Manzanillo International Terminal.

The Manzanillo International Terminal has an on-dock container freight station that covers 16.3 thousand square meters, including 10.5 thousand square meters of covered area and storage capacity for 350 TEUs. The container freight station offers a wide range of services for less-than-container-load and breakbulk cargoes that include warehousing, transloading, cargo inspection, customs brokerage, and container devanning and stuffing.

The Manzanillo International Terminal is planning to develop a new 40-plus hectare cargo-consolidation and logistics park to help shippers establish efficient and cost-effective multi-country distribution points for products bound for the Caribbean and South America. The logistics park will provide commercial facilities where multi-national companies can sort, grade, pack/repack, label, store, assemble, and move cargo. The park will also be integrated with rail, air, and ocean facilities.