Babitonga dredging: Itapoá beach nourishment reaches first kilometer

The deepening dredging of the access channel to the Babitonga Bay, in northern Santa Catarina, has completed its first month, reaching the first kilometer of the Itapoá beach nourishment area. The material used to widen the beach comes from sediments dredged from the seabed by the vessel Galileo Galilei.

The information was released on Wednesday, the 12th, by the president of the Port of São Francisco do Sul, Cleverton Vieira, during the International Congress on Port Performance (Cidesport), held in Florianópolis.

“For the first time in Brazil, sediments from a port dredging project are being used for beach nourishment. And in the case of Itapoá, we’re talking about a 7.5-kilometer stretch — the largest shoreline widening in the country’s history,” said Vieira during the panel “Port management: the challenge of navigating turbulent waters.”

Vieira stated that 12.5 million cubic meters of sediment will be removed from the access channel, and about 6.5 million tonnes will be used to widen Itapoá’s shoreline, which in recent years has been affected by coastal erosion.

“At this point, 1 million cubic meters have already been deposited on the beach, about 15% of the total,” he said, adding that completion of the dredging and deepening works for the access channel to the ports of São Francisco do Sul and Itapoá is expected in the second half of 2026.

Cidesport is a technical and scientific event organized by the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), in partnership with the University of the South of Santa Catarina (Unisul) and the University of Valencia (Spain). It brings together specialists and stakeholders from Brazil’s and the world’s port sectors.

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The dredging will allow vessels up to 366 meters in length to dock, making the Babitonga Bay port complex the first in Brazil capable of receiving ships of this size at full load.

Currently, the Babitonga Bay Port Complex can receive vessels up to 336 meters long, with a capacity of 10,000 TEUs. Once completed, the project will increase that capacity to 16,000 TEUs.

Public–private partnership

The R$ 333 million project is being carried out through an unprecedented partnership between the ports of São Francisco do Sul and Itapoá. For the first time in Brazil, a public port has signed a contract with a private port for a project of this kind. The public port of São Francisco will invest R$ 33 million, while the private terminal of Itapoá will contribute R$ 300 million.

The private investment will be reimbursed in installments through 2037. The repayment to Itapoá will come from the additional port fees generated by the increase in vessel calls and cargo volumes handled once the deepening project is completed.

Oversight

The companies Geplan and Prosul were selected through a public tender to oversee the project, with a contract worth R$ 9 million. In addition to monitoring all stages of the work, they will conduct detailed analyses of each phase, including verification of the compatibility of sediments deposited on the beach and inspection of the topographic modeling of the expanded area.

The firms will also monitor the aquatic phase of the project, ensuring that the deepening and widening of the access channel are carried out in accordance with the specified technical standards.

Source: Porto de São Francisco do Sul

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