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Saturday, September 12, 2026 · Guatemala CityQ7.6282 per US$+0.00%
ADVANCE GUATEMALA
Back to the researchIn research — sources cited, not yet in the verified archive

In depth

Puerto Quetzal's pier capacity and its draft and congestion limits

Dossier
Infrastructure and logistics06-logistica.md
Domain
Ports, cargo and corridorslogistica
Room
Trade/comercio
Audited
not audited

The commercial pier of the Empresa Portuaria Quetzal (EPQ) is 980 m long and has not been extended since 1985; it has 2 general-cargo berths, 2 for dry and liquid bulk and 1 multipurpose ramp. Official draft is 11 m, but recent bathymetry shows sections of the pier at 9 m or less, and in 2025 it is operating at a reduced draft of 10.5 m. It was designed for 180 m vessels and handles ships of up to 240 m in length (2025). A local 2025 report recorded as many as 29 vessels at anchor waiting to discharge, and La Hora documents delays of up to 40 days caused by inspections fragmented across several agencies.

The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.

Figures

Length of the EPQ commercial pierLa Hora
980 m (no expansion since 1985)2025
BerthsLa Hora
2 general cargo, 2 solid/liquid bulk, 1 multipurpose ramp2025
Draft: official / measured sections / operatingLa Hora
11 m / ≤9 m / 10.5 m2025
Vessel length: design / handledLa Hora
180 m / up to 240 m2025
Vessels waiting at anchorPeriódico el Escuintleco
up to 292025
Delays from fragmented inspectionsLa Hora
up to 40 days2026

Caveat

press figures; the congestion of 29 vessels comes from a local outlet and is still to be verified

Sources

Organizations named in the answer

  • La HoraA report of 12 July 2026: cigarettes, Q180 million a year in lost revenue since 2017; alcoholic drinks, more than US$25 million a year; agriculture, ~US$62 million; and Guatemala as a regional corridor for illicit trade.Other

Directory of organizations

Related records

This layer is research: read from public sources by the archive's own team, every claim cited with the date it was consulted, and audited where it is marked so. It has not entered the verified store — no figure here was fetched back from its source or stamped with a retrieval time — so it wears no red provenance numeral and never mixes with the verified figures.