Puerto Nuevo, Buenos Aires, Maritime port in Retiro, Argentina

Puerto Nuevo is a maritime port in the Retiro neighborhood, spanning a large area with multiple docking facilities for various vessel types. The infrastructure allows simultaneous loading and unloading operations across different sections.

Construction of Puerto Nuevo began in 1911 under the British firm C.H. Walker & Co., with the first stage inaugurated in 1919 and the docks completed by 1928. Its design of six open docks revived Luis Huergo's 1880s proposal, which had lost to Eduardo Madero's closed-dock scheme built as Puerto Madero between 1887 and 1898. Dársena F only opened in the 1940s.

The port's name distinguishes it from Puerto Madero, deactivated and turned into a commercial district. Dársena F still serves shallow-draft river vessels, and barges unload sand from the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. On its north side, stairs remain from when seaplanes departed from there.

Much of the port is restricted for security reasons, so booking a guided tour with local operators is the best way to explore it properly. Walking along the publicly accessible waterfront areas gives you a sense of the scale and activity.

The stepped docks were designed by engineer Luis Huergo's idea, revived about twenty years after Eduardo Madero's closed-dock scheme won in the 1880s. Huergo, Argentina's first native-born engineer, had proposed toothed docks open to the Río de la Plata; the new port finally adopted that layout north of Puerto Madero.