Costa Rica and El Salvador launch ferry service to increase trade, bypass Nicaragua 

A new commercial ferry service between Costa Rica and El Salvador was inaugurated on Thursday in an effort to boost trade in the region and bypass Nicaragua and Honduras. 

On Thursday, the 170-meter Blue Wave Harmony sailed for the first time from La Union, El Salvador, and headed to Caldera Costa Rica. The ferry is designed to move around 100 tractor-trailers over 430 miles (691) kilometers) in less than 24 hours. 

The officials launching the new service claimed that the boat will save shipping time, avoid border closures, and reduce the number of borders that have to be crossed. 

Currently, it takes around four days to move shipments from El Salvador to Costa Rica. Shipments sent between the two Central American countries have traveled through Honduras and Nicaragua, involving eight customs processes that cargo trucks have to go through. The ferry will only require two customs processes, one when it leaves and one when it arrives. 

Additionally, the president of El Salvador’s Executive Port Commission said the new ferry would ensure that shipments keep to schedule “when certain countries close their borders,” implying previous measures taken by the regime of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. 

During the coronavirus pandemic, Nicaragua closed its border with Costa Rica in protest of the health measures implemented by Costa Rican authorities to prevent further spread of the virus. 

Many businesses in both countries welcomed the ferry, which will start by making four trips a week, saying that it would help promote business in the region. 

“You avoid the red tape and waiting hours at the border crossings, you reduce the risks of theft, assaults, roadblocks, and highway problems," said Silvia Cuellar, president of COEXPORT, a private association of El Salvador exporters. “Above all it reduces the transit time, arriving at your destination in less time.”