Port of Santos ideal depth 17 meters, says pilotage association president

With a third of Brazil’s international trade flow passing through its terminals and an average daily movement of 20 ships, which require 40 entry and exit maneuvers every 24 hours, the Port of Santos today has a minimum depth of 15 meters. The authorities are working on expanding it to 16 meters at first. However, according to Sao Paulo state’s pilotage, the ideal depth would be 17 meters, a scenario already on the Port Authority’s radar.

The main port in the country and the largest in Latin America, the Santos port complex is a record holder in cargo throughput, surpassing its own results each year. In 2022 year-to-date, the Port of  Santos handled approximately 162 million tonnes. In addition, the structure can receive large vessels, such as container ships measuring 366 meters in length overall and 50 meters in width (beam).

Despite the positive results, some shipowners would like to carry more cargo, reducing lead times and costs because they currently do not use the total capacity of their vessels due to draft limits.

Aware of this, the Santos Port Authority (SPA), manager of the Port of Santos, explains that “the depth of the navigation channel is at least 15 meters, and the draft of the berths varies according to the type of cargo transported at each terminal”. SPA also mentions that the waterway channel is being deepened in a two-stage process.

“The first stage will bring the depth to 16 meters, followed by 17 meters later. The port authority formed a working group to draft an application for an environmental license, referring to the 16-meter depth increase. The second stage will require a different process,” said the state company.

For the president of São Paulo Pilotage, Fábio de Mello Fontes, the current depth meets the demand, but it is not ideal. “Vessels are authorized to travel in the Port of Santos with a draft of up to 14.5 meters. One meter of tidal height is enough for this draft. But deepening (the channel) to 17 meters would be ideal.”

Regarding the port’s daily movement, Fontes says that “between entrances and exits, we have an average of 38 to 40 maneuvers per day, and there are moments when we exceed 60 maneuvers. Therefore, given 40 maneuvers per day, between 15 and 20 ships enter the Port of Santos daily.”

“In comparison to other Brazilian ports, Santos has reasonable numbers. However, we cannot compare ourselves to Europe or China. For example, the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands receives between 120 and 150 ships per day, but it is Europe’s gateway and serves all of Eastern Europe. That is a different reality than ours,” the Pilotage official adds.

Dredging

Van Oord currently performs maintenance dredging in the Port of Santos channel under a contract that expires in March 2024. “To maintain the structure depth, 6.1 million cubic meters of sediments per year are expected to be removed, with 460 thousand cubic meters foreseen in the case of the mooring berths,” the Port Authority says.

SPA also explains that “all berths operate according to the type of cargo they handle. Some need more draft, and others operate with a lower draft, so you don’t work with the ‘best draft,’ but with the draft necessary for each type of operation”.

Source: A Tribuna

To read the original reporting, please visit: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/profundidade-de-17-metros-no-canal-do-porto-de-santos-seria-ideal-diz-presidente-da-praticagem

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