Over the past years, the Port of Cartagena has registered a decrease of the containers traffic. This is mainly due to the limited capacity of the Cartagena dock, because of its shallow draught that only allows the docking of small and medium-size freight ships (e.g.: “feeders”).

This type of vessel is gradually being replaced by other larger vessels that are being diverted to other ports due to the difficulty that the shallow draft of the Port of Cartagena has. With the aim of recovering the lost competitiveness in container traffic, the project proposes the dredging of the dock to increase the draft by 2 meters. This greater draft will also allow supporting the commercial actions being carried out by the Port of Cartagena to boost traffic with Arab countries and Asia.

For the same reason, and with the aim of ensuring the leadership of the Port of Cartagena in solid and liquid bulk traffic, the increase in the draft of the Escombreras basin is also being considered to allow the entry of larger vessels. These dredging, in turn, involve the regeneration of the seabed of the docks, by removing the polluting discharges that have accumulated over the years, mainly in the Cartagena dock.

The project has actually active in public tender the following works:

- Demolitions, characterization and adaptation in Peñarroya

- Expansion project on del Pontoon E-19

- Elaboration and y processing of the strategic environmental study of the Master Plan