AirSeaLogistics – Lima, Peru - Project Cargo Weekly

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Interview with

Mr. Joao Saldias
General Manager

For starters, Joao, what can you tell our readers about yourself and your own career? When and why did you start a career in shipping?

I signed up in 2008 with the BBZ (technical training school ed.) in Santiago called Insalco. I immediately got an Internship at Ultramar where I was lucky enough to be part of their trainee formation program. For the first couple of years, I would rotate within different Business Verticals of the Ultramar Holding. Just to name a few, during my internship years, I have been: a Boarding Agent at Quintero, passed through Ultramar Chartering (now Lighthouse Chartering), and worked at Craft & Ultramar Logistics among others. This gave me a very wide notion of the Industry. I have not left the industry since besides a 2-year travel period.

About AirSea Logistics in Peru, tell us about the company, ownership, and about the main activities of your company?

AirSea Logistics is a Chilean-owned logistics company which is strongly focused on inbound containerized and loose cargo. We are strongly present in the following Industries: Mining , Automotive , Agriculture, Retail.

Peru is a beautiful and rich country also in mining deposits etc. Are you involved within the mining industry in Peru as well?

We are very much engaged in the mining industry and are familiar with the standards of the biggest mines in Peru. We are mostly active in the inbound supply of spare parts, bearings, fittings, machinery and lubricants.

Peru has many ports, yet many outside Peru have little knowledge about them. Can you elaborate on the ports available for import and export in Peru, and which ports are the major ones for international trade?

Southbound we have:

Terminal Portuario de Paita: Multipurpose, main activity is perishables (Reefer cargo)
Salaverry: Dry Bulk
Callao: APM / DPW
Puerto Paracas SA: Reefer cargo and Project cargo
Matarani: Main mineral export port, serves 3 mining companies. Yearly tonnage about 6 Million Tons
Yrimaguas: Fluvial waterway, connects with Brazil
Arica (Chile) Gateway to Tacna, Arequipa and Cusco Region with the best vessel reliability of any nearby ports.

There is a new port being built by the Chinese. Can you tell us more?

The Chancay Port Terminal will be in Chancay which is situated about 65 km North of Lima Bay. The reason this is such a hot topic is the potential it’s got, but such potential must be fully stabilized with a lot of prívate and públic investment for the hinterland connections this port requires to become a real HUB.

Topics like cabotage, trains west-east, road construction as well as a very articúlated connection to Paracas, Callao (Callao -Port needs to become a HUB to feed Chancay), Salaverry and Paita.

You can probably relate to this as it is a similar case of what happened to Valparaiso when San Antonio started booming. It took a while, but it eventually bécame the Main Chilean port. For me, Chancay has that potential, and it can pull cargo from other countries and be a direct connection to China, as most container carriers now first hit México and then go southbound or back west.

This could easily trim a week of sailing to the schedules and that enables a whole lot of commodities to reach new markets.

Our big challenge is that public investment will play ball with the prívate investment required to fully take advantage of the geopolitical significance of what a port like Chancay could mean in 10-20 years from now. That is the way Cosco Shipping Ports is looking at it.

Do you have experience in handling oversized and project cargoes? Could you provide us with some examples?

I do have experience in oversized cargo. I spent almost 2 years as a Boarding Agent and have arranged some 100 OOG/ Break Bulk / Roro shipments in the last 2 years.

I have also had my experience in Chartering as well as Dry & Liquid Bulk.

How do you view the Peruvian market for the rest of this year leading into 2025?

2026 is an election year, so I don’t see much changing before that. There are a lot of positive talks and a lot of projects being set to unclog, but the truth is we see that moving at a snail’s pace. Patience is the key, but we have to keep our head in the game and be on top for when they unclog