Venezuelan state port operator Bolivariana de Puertos (Bolipuertos) and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) have signed an agreement to build a new container terminal as part of a US$520M refurbishment programme at Venezuela’s main port of Puerto Cabello. The contract was signed yesterday by Venezuela’s Transportation and Communications Minister Francisco Garces and Chen Zhong, vice chairman of CHEC, and follows a memorandum of understanding signed between Caracas and Beijing in September 2010. "This terminal will double the capacity we have and will be connected with the railway network we are developing," said Garces. The new terminal will extend the existing container handling facilities at Puerto Cabello by 38 hectares and add two new berths with a total length of 690m, equipped with six ship-to-shore cranes. The new berths will be able to accommodate vessels of up to 70,000 dwt compared to 30,000 dwt at present. Construction will start next year and the terminal is expected to be fully operational in 2014.