Port Of Callao, Peru

The Port of Callao is Peru's main commercial seaport. Just 12 kilometers from downtown Lima (Spanish), the country's capital, the Port of Callao is part of the Lima-Callao metropolitan area. The Port of Callaois 765 kilometers northwest of Peru's southern Port of Matarani and 960 kilometers southwest of the relatively isolated Port of Iquitos on the Amazon River in the country's far northeast region. The Port of Callao has one of South America's few good natural harbors on the Pacific Ocean. In 2005, almost 390 thousand people lived in the Port of Callao, although the Lima-Callao metropolitan area is home to more than 8.4 million.

The Port of Callao lies south of the Rimac River at the tip of a peninsula protected by the offshore island of San Lorenzo and a promontory. The Port of Callao exports mainly refined metals, minerals, fish meal, and fish oil. Its principal imports are wheat, lumber, and machinery. The Port of Callao is home to a wide range of industries that include breweries, fish meal factories, and shipbuilding yards. The Port of Callao is also home to a large naval base and the Jorge Chavez International Airport. It is also the site of several islands that support a large colony of sea lions and seabirds in a relatively pristine ecosystem.

Peru's National Port Authority (Spanish) (APN) governs all ports in Peru, including the Port of Callao. The Empresa Nacional de Puertos S.A. (ENAPU) was created by law in 1970 as a decentralized public organization under the Transports and Communications Sector. ENAPU was made responsible for operating, maintaining, and administering all terminals and jetties in the Republic of Peru.

ENAPU seeks to be the leading container port on South America's Pacific Coast, and the Port of Callao plays a vital role in that leadership. Both competing and cooperating with the private sector, ENAPU provides appropriate port infrastructure, modern equipment, and skilled workers to offer the best port services available. ENAPU is committed to meeting the demands for port services effectively, efficiently, and reliably to support the development of foreign trade in Peru and the integration of the Port of Callao-Lima region.

La Empresa Nacional de Puertos ENAPU S.A. administers and develops the Port of Callao under state ownership. The Port of Callao serves a vast hinterland that contains Lima, Huanuco, Cerro de Pasco, Ayacucho, Huancavelica, and Junin. Located in the Pacific Basin on Peru's central coast, the Port of Callao holds an important strategic position on the inter-oceanic routes for vessels crossing the Panama Canal and the Straits of Magellan.

The Port of Callao serves Peru's capital city of Lima and the rest of the country through a network of roads that extend to the north and south and into the central mountain region. The Port of Callao is connected by road with the Jorge Chavez International Airport, located about four kilometers northeast of the Port of Callao, and to the nation's railroad that crosses the Andes Mountain range.


The Port of Callao covers over 47 hectares and contains over 3.6 kilometers of moorings at a depth of about 11 meters. The port contains almost 26.5 hectares of storage space, including 2.1 hectares of roofed area and 24.3 hectares for containers. The Port of Callao has capacity for storing 25.8 thousand metric tons of grain.

In 2007, over 20.7 million metric tons of cargo passed through the Port of Callao on 2367 vessels, with 16.4 million tons going through the Callao terminal. Cargoes at the Callao Terminal included 9.6 million tons of imports, 5.4 million tons of exports, 920.8 thousand tons of transshipments, and 440.7 thousand tons of cabotage. The Port of Callao handled 1.2 million TEUs of containerized cargo, one million of those handled through the Callao Terminal.

Jetty No. 1 in the Port of Callao is 9.3 meters wide and has alongside depth of 9.8 meters. It contains two berths, one on each side of the jetty, and each is 182.8 meters long. The Port of Callao's Jetty No. 2 is 86 meters wide with alongside depth of 10.1 meters, and it has two berths, each 182.8 meters long. Jetty No. 3 is 86 meters wide with alongside depth of 10.1 meters. It also has two berths of 182.8 meters in length. Jetty No. 4 in the Port of Callao is 30.5 meters wide with alongside depth of 10.1 meters, and it has two berths of 182.8 meters in length.

The Port of Callao's Jetty No. 5 is 390 meters long and 182.8 meters wide. It contains five berths. Berths A and B have alongside depth of 10.7 meters. Berth A is 178 meters long, and Berth B is 212 meters long. Berths C and D have alongside depth of 11 meters. Berth C is 182.8 meters long, and Berth D is 209 meters long. Berth E is 181 meters long, and it has alongside depth of 10.4 meters.

The Port of Callao's Terminal of Paita contains a warehouse of 280 square meters and handling areas of 8.6 thousand square meters with a capacity for handling 690 TEUs of containerized cargo. Its North and South Courtyards contain over 23 thousand square meters for handling both loaded and empty containers. In 2003, the Port Terminal of Paita handled almost 771 thousand metric tons in 68.8 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo.

The Port of Callao's Salaverry Port Terminal Facilities include two jetties for direct mooring of 455 meters of total length and draft of 9-10 meters. Two general warehouses and a sugar warehouse cover 11.6 thousand square meters. Open areas of 45 thousand square meters handle general cargo, containers, and alcohol tanks. In 2003, the Salaverry Terminal handled 961 thousand metric tons of cargo including 100 TEUs of containerized cargo.

The General San Martin Port Terminal Facilities in the Port of Callao contain a jetty for direct mooring of 700 meters This terminal covers over 9 thousand square meters of warehouse with capacity to handle 30 thousand tons of cargo. Its eight zones cover almost 80 thousand square meters and have a capacity to handle 161 thousand tons of general merchandise, bulk salt, and containers. In 2003, the Port of Callao's General San Martin Terminal handled over a million metric tons of cargo.

The Ilo Port Terminal Facility in the Port of Callao contains an anti-seismic jetty for direct moorings with a total length of 630 meters and capacity to handle 100 thousand deadweight tons. The Ilo facility includes a warehouse covering 1.6 thousand square meters. Six open areas cover 40.5 thousand square meters in the Port of Callao and have a combined capacity for over 96 thousand metric tons of cargo including general merchandise, roll-on/roll-of cargo and containers, vehicles, grain, and some hazardous cargo.


In early 2009, DP World announced that it will invest in the Muelle Norte Terminal at the Port of Callao. The project will rebuild and restore the terminal facilities, creating a deep-water facility with almost 1.3 kilometers of berths and 550 meters of side-feeder berths that can accommodate as many as four post-Panamax vessels at the same time. The revamped Port of Callao terminal will include a 73-hectares storage facility with yard and ample cargo-handling equipment. The rebuilt terminal will focus on handling some three million TEUs of containerized cargo and will serve cruise ships.