ICA Grants One-Month Extension for Machinery to Clean Cancún’s Nichupté Lagoon

Cancún, Quintana Roo — The cleanup of Nichupté Lagoon has entered a critical phase after contractor ICA granted a one-month extension for using specialized machinery needed to remove abandoned vessels from the waterway.

Francisco Fernández Millán, president of the Asociados Náuticos de Quintana Roo, said this window represents a decisive opportunity to advance the lagoon’s restoration, with plans to extract 25 to 30 disused or sunken boats.

“This is the time we have to complete the operation; if we don’t take advantage of it, we don’t see another near-term date when we’ll have access to this machinery again,” he warned.

The equipment, previously used for infrastructure projects in the area, already has an active agreement to support these cleanup efforts, but its availability is limited, forcing authorities to accelerate coordination.

Fernández Millán explained that administrative processes for such operations typically take six to eight months, but officials are now trying to resolve them within weeks to avoid missing this opportunity. The final decision rests with the Port Authority.

Abandoned vessels are concentrated primarily in the lagoon’s channels and access points, including areas near the Sigfrido channel, where a significant number of deteriorating boats have been identified.

The plan calls for removed boats to be stored on land while owners can claim them, as the municipality determines a final disposal site.

Fernández Millán emphasized that the extension granted by ICA has accelerated negotiations with the Port Authority and municipal officials to untangle permits and define storage locations.