APS Brings Together European Experts and Launches Innovative Program in the Ports of Santos and Itajaí

Earlier this month, the Santos Port Authority (APS) welcomed specialists from the Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) and the Hamburg Port Authority (Germany) for a series of meetings and lectures. Among other objectives, these activities aimed to disseminate information and promote discussions on navigation in fluid mud based on research conducted in European ports.

“The activities carried out throughout the week with the experts from the Netherlands and Germany mark a milestone in strengthening international cooperation and incorporating cutting-edge technical knowledge into the Brazilian port sector,” said APS President Anderson Pomini. “Initiatives like this consolidate the ports of Santos and Itajaí as leaders in developing technical solutions that will serve as a reference for all of Brazil,” Pomini added.

Fluid mud is an intermediate layer between the water column and the consolidated nautical bottom, composed of a mixture of water and fine sediments such as clay and silt. Its main feature is its density — greater than water but still less than consolidated sediments. For this reason, this layer cannot be considered a true nautical bottom but rather a transitional interface that can be safely navigated under certain operational conditions.

This type of material is common in port and estuarine regions and can directly affect navigability, vessel operations, and maneuvering efficiency. Additionally, its presence poses challenges for dredging operations.

In some European ports, advanced research and established criteria exist for navigating fluid mud, allowing for increased operational depths without constant dredging, thus reducing costs and environmental impacts. The adoption of nautical bottom models, such as those studied in the ports of Hamburg and Rotterdam, has shown that it’s possible to balance navigational safety with operational efficiency, provided there is continuous monitoring and a precise understanding of the behavior of this layer.

The delegation’s agenda, which also included waterway infrastructure technicians from APS, involved presentations and site visits to the ports of Santos and Itajaí and the University of São Paulo (USP). Field tests were also conducted to collect fluid mud samples using equipment brought by the Hamburg Port Authority—equipment that had never before been used in Brazil.

Workshop

The Young Professionals (YP) group of Pianc Brazil, an international organization responsible for setting guidelines for waterway transport infrastructure, supported a workshop held at APS headquarters on April 8. The event provided direct interaction between researchers and port sector professionals in response to the growing demand for technical studies on the feasibility of navigating fluid mud and optimizing dredging operations.

During the workshop, oceanographer Mauricio Bernardo Gaspar Filho and civil engineers Matheus T. Novaes and Felipe B. Fray — APS’s technical team members — launched the Pride Program (short for Program for Research and Innovation in Dredging Engineering). APS will lead the program in gaining a deep understanding of sediment dynamics and the natural and human-induced processes that directly influence the characteristics of the nautical bottom in the port complexes under its management. The initiative primarily seeks to generate the technical knowledge needed to propose procedural and technological improvements for dredging operations, making them more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable.

Regarding advancing fluid mud studies in Brazil, Alex Kirichek, professor and researcher at TU Delft, stated: “The exchange of knowledge between Brazilian and European institutions plays a vital role in advancing sustainable port management. Given Brazil’s complex and unique sedimentary conditions, developing globally accepted criteria for safe navigation in fluid mud environments can significantly transform traditional dredging approaches. Our European Union delegation is highly impressed with APS’s technical commitment and sees this initiative as a crucial step toward innovative, context-specific solutions tailored to Brazil’s unique maritime challenges.”

As the next steps, APS will seek to formalize national and international partnerships with universities, research centers, and other port authorities to conduct technical studies, which will be widely shared with the scientific and port communities.

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