New ferry linking El Salvador and Costa Rica aims to cut shipping times, avoid border problems

abcnews.go.com:

A new ferry line for commerce moving through Central America began operating Thursday, directly connecting El Salvador and Costa Rica to the exclusion of Nicaragua and Honduras

LA UNION, El Salvador — A new commercial ferry line moving through Central America began operating Thursday, directly connecting El Salvador and Costa Rica to the exclusion of Nicaragua and Honduras.

The Blue Wave Harmony sailed out of La Union, El Salvador, headed for Caldera, Costa Rica, a trip that its backers say will save shipping time, avoid border closures and eliminate delays at two extra border crossings between the two countries.

Officials launching the new service in El Salvador were diplomatic, avoiding direct references to the increasingly authoritarian government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Federico Anliker, president of El Salvador’s Executive Port Commission, said the new ferry will help ensure that traffic keeps flowing “when certain countries close their borders.”

In 2020, early in the coronavirus pandemic, Nicaragua closed its border with Costa Rica in protest of health measures implemented by Costa Rican authorities, specifically testing truck drivers for COVID-19.

In February, Nicaragua expelled more than 200 prisoners that human rights groups and foreign governments had described as political, putting them on a plane to the United States. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have fled to Costa Rica since Ortega’s government violently cracked down on national protests in 2018, leading to several rounds of sanctions from the U.S. government and the European Union.

While some business associations in El Salvador said they were optimistic about the ferry, transport companies downplayed it, saying it would not be viable