Antaq is preparing a pilot project to monitor dredging in ports; Santos should be considered

The National Waterway Transport Agency (Antaq) is preparing a pilot project aimed at inspecting dredging in public ports next year, and Santos should be one of those contemplated. Contracts and operations in the navigation channels will be analyzed. The service is included in the agency’s Annual Inspection Plan 2023, approved last Thursday and which will be published in the Official Gazette (DOU) next week.

The pilot project will be based on analyzes already under way at the Port of Itajaí (SC) and will guide dredging inspections in the chosen ports next year. The port complexes that will be analyzed have not yet been defined, but Santos could be one of them. For A Tribuna, the general director of Antaq, Eduardo Nery, spoke of “working so that the ports become increasingly efficient and productive”.

“We will target a series of inspections in 2024 to identify problems in dredging contracts and how authorities are preparing to address this issue. The legal and operational parts will be analysed, whether the contracts are fulfilled satisfactorily, whether the port authority is preparing to make a new bid, anticipating and eliminating the bottleneck that occurs in ports due to lack of maintenance and deepening dredging”.

Port of Santos

In a note to the Report, the Port Authority of Santos (APS) says it is carrying out studies to evaluate the best modeling of future dredging contracts. “In order to ensure greater efficiency in the planning and execution of interventions, the APS is enabling a new detailed study to update the siltation rates of the waterway infrastructure of the Santos complex”.

Taking into account the projections for growth in cargo and ships, the Port of Santos manager has been adopting measures to make dredging works to deepen the navigation channel feasible in the short and medium term. At the moment, the preliminary project for the 16-meter deepening dredging is being prepared, which should be carried out by the end of 2026. the APS.

Inspection Plan

Antaq’s 2023 Annual Inspection Plan is divided into five thematic axes: port administration performance monitoring report; mapping initiatives in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG); maritime navigation – qualitative analysis of charter contracts; inland navigation – characterization of mooring points; and identification of the causes of abusive charges for container demurrage.

According to the general director of Antaq, “planning is done to guide our actions”, with the aim of “increasing the intensity of inspections in those who have a greater number of infractions and non-conformities committed. We have directed the inspections to the thematic areas in order to be able to identify the causes of the problems”.

Nery explained that diagnoses will be made “in the operational part, financial-budgetary issues and operational bottlenecks, so that one can have a vision of the causes that may be generating bottlenecks of low productivity, inefficiency to help, including, in the formulation of public policies by the Ministry of Ports and Airports and guide our regulation as well. We have already selected five ports this year, including Santos”.

Rapporteur for the case, Nery explained that the proposal presented by the technical area does not include deferred storage of containers. “We already carry out numerous inspections during the year, caused by complaints or by the agency itself. Most of them from complaints, based on our regulation, which established the rights and duties of users. From there, users began to provoke the agency with more objectivity in relation to this topic”.

The ports of Santos, Manaus (AM), Suape (PE) and Rio Grande (RS) will be analyzed on performance monitoring reports from port administrations. The Itapoá (SC), Portonave (SC) and Paranaguá (PR) terminals will be inspected in relation to the mapping of ESG practices, from the perspective of energy efficiency and reduction of emissions; Waste Management; environmental Protection; engagement with the local community; and transparency and governance.

In the third axis, which concerns the analysis of charter contracts, ten contracts from each group (cabotage, long haul, port support and maritime support) will be analyzed by Antaq’s Superintendence of Inspection and Control (SFC), all referring to the authorizations granted in 2022.

Source: A Tribuna

To read the full original report, visit: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/antaq-prepara-projeto-piloto-para-fiscalizar-dragagem-nos-portos-santos-deve-ser-contemplado

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