Baja California has 5 ports in its extense coastline; 4 in the Pacific Coast and 1 in the Sea of Cortes.

The most important one is the Port of Ensenada, with a highest trade movement of the country in the Pacific Ocean, it is the door to the Pacific Basin and has a high potential for trade with the US west coast and Asian countries like Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, among others.

Port of Sauzal de Rodríguez is 10 Km North from Ensenada, which is a coastal trade terminal, with wharf, access channel and development possibilities with industrial and commercial activities, transporting semi-finished products. This port has an Industrial Park beside to manufacture finished products.

The Port of Rosarito is located 20 Km South from the US Border and works as a landing for petroleum products for State’s supply.

Isla de Cedros, in the Pacific Ocean 105 Km away form the coast, has a port that ships mineral salt to Japan, obtained from the saline deposits of Guerrero Negro. The annual load movement is 14 million tons.

San Felipe, located 200 Km South from the US border, is a port used for fishing and touristic activities. San Felipe also has an international airport that receives private flights for tourism.

The Port of Ensenada

Ensenada’s Port is one of the most relevant logistic solutions that can be offered in Baja Califronia. The main cities of the State are less than 200 miles away from the major ports; for instance the Port of Ensenada in Baja California, the Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles, and the Port of San Pedro in San Diego, California.

Distance from the cities to the ports

The Ensenada Port is located in the West part of Baja California, 110 km South from California, US. The Hutchison Group has developed the Ensenada International Terminal since 2001.

In the growing scenario of international trade and maritime transportation in the region, the Port of Ensenada has taken several important actions, as part of a global strategy to improve international trade services and become the New Alternative.

Between December 2004 and March 2005, a dredging program was taken to improve navigation areas, increasing main pier depth from 12.5 to 13.5 meters, ship reception capacity went from 3rd generation to 5th generation vessels, which carry up to 5,500 TEU´s.

During 2005 more than 6 million US dollars were invested on equipment and port infrastructure. On March, 2005 two Post Panamax Quay Cranes arrived to the port, to make a total of four now. In addition, during the first semester of 2005 two more Yard Cranes were installed. There is also a plan of land filing to extend terminal patios to be on optimal operational conditions.
 The current patio storages 3,500 TEU’s.

The Intermodal Corridor Ensenada-Border BC was integrated. This Corridor joins together the Ensenada, Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali Customs houses. The objective is to integrate a solid project based on the In-Bond Figure, in order to fulfill all logistics needs, enforce connectivity, and promote a fast flow of cargo transported by truck to the US.

Today, there are 2 trucking companies authorized to develop the In-Bond service through the Port of Ensenada. The shipping lines are in a testing stage to deliver the service as well. As a result, the import and export traffics will be more competitive.

Ensenada International Terminal

The Customs House works from 8:00 am to 17:00 hrs Monday to Friday, and is willing to do extraordinary dispatch services with a 24 hours notice with no extra charge. The inspections are developed by customs personnel, and supervised by custom broker. Mr. Victor Celis D. is the Customs Administrator. The Port of Ensenada is certified as a secure port with the ISPS Code Certificate No.0012/2004 dated 06/26/04. The Container Terminal EIT, it is also certified as a secure installation with the Code Certificate EIT21113/MXESE/058, dated 21/06/2004 For more detailed information please go directly to http://www.enseit.com/ and http://www.puertoensenada.com.mx/

Shipping Lines and Maritime Routes

Since 2005 Maersk Sealand and the Port of Ensenada announced a new service named ASICAM-MEX. This service departs from the Port of Kaohsiung, calling Chiwang, Hong Kong and Kyangyang, directly to Ensenada. After that, the vessel continues to Lazaro Cárdenas, Quetzal, Balboa, and goes back to Kaohsiung to complete the route.

The current Asia - Ensenada weekly service provided by TMM Lines, Lykes Lines and APL is also under vessel capacity expansion.

A commercial approach with shipping lines like NYK, CP Ships (ANZL), CMA-CGM, Hamburg Sud and CCNI, and Hyundai Merchant is being performed; these companies are highly interested in calling the Port of Ensenada.

Current routes: