- Contecon Manzanillo becomes the only terminal at Port of Manzanillo authorized to handle vessels with drafts of up to 15.5 meters
- Approval allows CMSA to serve ships up to 400 meters long, including ultra-large container vessels carrying up to 24,000 TEUs
- Move builds on mother company International Container Terminal Services, Inc’s ongoing multi-phase expansion of the terminal, part of capital spending that topped $300 million since 2023
Contecon Manzanillo S.A. de C.V. (CMSA), the Mexican unit of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), has secured approval to handle ships with drafts of up to 15.5 meters, opening the Port of Manzanillo to ultra-large container vessels and making CMSA the only terminal operator at the port with this capability.
The authorization allows CMSA to serve vessels up to 400 meters long, including ultra-large container ships capable of carrying up to 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
“This authorization reflects the investments we have made to strengthen the terminal,” said CMSA CEO Jose Antonio Contreras in a statement. “It also marks an important step toward our goal of achieving a 17-meter operational draft at our new berths, which will allow us to accommodate larger vessels and handle higher cargo volumes.”
The approval comes as Mexican port authority Administracion del Sistema Portuario Nacional Manzanillo continues dredging and basin-conditioning works to accommodate deeper-draft vessels at the port. “As vessel sizes continue to increase, terminals must ensure they have the infrastructure needed to support them,” Contreras said. “This approval expands our ability to serve larger ships and supports the next stage of the terminal’s development.”
The milestone is the latest step in a years-long expansion drive at CMSA. The terminal unit began a third-phase expansion in 2022 aimed at lifting the terminal’s capacity from 1.4 million TEUs to more than 2 million TEUs within five years, backed by an investment plan exceeding $230 million for 2022 to 2025.
Following the completion of Phase 3A in 2025, CMSA’s annual capacity rose to more than 1.77 million TEUs, and has since climbed to approximately 1.8 million TEUs.
The terminal is now advancing Phase 3B, which includes an additional 227 meters of quay and the acquisition of two quay cranes and nine rubber-tired gantries, on top of the 12 quay cranes and 43 rubber-tired gantries CMSA currently operates. Once complete, Phase 3B is expected to push annual capacity to 2 million TEUs.
ICTSI has budgeted an estimated $740 million in group-wide capital expenditure for 2026, with the completion of CMSA’s Phase 3B expansion among the top priorities alongside ongoing works at Manila International Container Terminal and other terminals in ICTSI’s global network.
The terminal has posted steady growth in recent years. CMSA moved 1.5 million TEUs in 2024, a 14% increase credited in part to newly acquired quay cranes and hybrid rubber-tired gantries, with the company’s total investments from 2023 to 2026 expected to exceed $300 million.
By early 2026, CMSA had handled a cumulative volume of more than 12 million TEUs since starting operations in 2013, recording growth of 10.5% in import volumes and 12.5% in export volumes in 2025 despite broadly flat performance across other ports on Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Growing capacity has also drawn additional shipping line services to Manzanillo. CMSA recently welcomed the inaugural call of MSC’s Sierra service, a new Far East-Mexico route linking Qingdao, Tianjin, Busan, Manzanillo, and Lazaro Cardenas, with the Port of Manzanillo handling more than 1.7 million TEUs between January and May 2026.
Shipping lines have increasingly deployed larger vessels on major trade lanes to move more cargo per voyage, ICTSI said, with many of these ships incorporating technologies aimed at improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. CMSA’s new draft authorization positions it to capture more of that traffic as the Port of Manzanillo continues its infrastructure buildout to accommodate deeper-draft calls.
