Work has begun on a new US$1.3 billion deepwater port in Posorja, Ecuador, starting with the dredging of what was said to be the deepest channel in the country.

Last year, DP World won a 50-year concession for the 750,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) capacity facility, which will be located 65km from Ecuador鈥檚 main business city of Guayaquil.

To give access to the future port, US$100 million is being spent on dredging 15 million cubic metres of material using three types of suction to create a 16.5m-deep and 175m-wide channel that stretches for 39km. It has been estimated that this process will take about 12 months to complete.

Once this is done, DP World will also build the port terminal, a 20km road between Playas and Posorja, and the infrastructure associated with the port 鈥� all of which is expected to cost about US$1.2 billion.

The port has been designed to accommodate cargo ships with a capacity of between 8,000 and 15,000 TEU, which is important for a region where maritime trade was said to have been growing in recent years, according to Jorge Vel谩squez, terminal manager at DP World.

The facility is scheduled to receive its first ships by July 2019 and then gradually increase shipping volume.