Jan de Nul begins dredging at Bahia Blanca with biggest dredger ever to operate in Argentina

The Jan de Nul Group, a world leader in maritime infrastructure, dredging, civil engineering, and environment works, began important works in the Bahía Blanca estuary, within the scope of the commitment made in the Management Consortium.

In this second phase, the maintenance tasks include dredging the main access channel to the ports and berths of Ingeniero White, Galván, and Rosales. The company ordered the dredgers Gerardus Mercator and Henri Pitot to execute the works per the terms established in the Bidding.

For the execution of these works, the ship Gerardus Mercator was mobilized, which is the largest dredge ever operated in Argentina: 152.9 meters in length, a width of 29 meters, and a cargo capacity of 2.0333 t TPB. This suction dredge will be in charge of carrying out the maintenance works of the main access channel in the Canal del Toro, Canal Exterior, and Naval Canal of Port of Belgrano.

The dredge Henri Pitot, in turn, will dredge berths in the water injection system, which allows the displacement of sediments that are then transported by the tidal current.

In this way, the work developed by Jan de Nul consists of restoring the theoretical conditions of the main channel so that the depth obtained allows the entry and navigation of ships up to 45 feet deep, reaching 50 feet at high tide.

These are strategic works for Argentina, as they guarantee the ports of Bahía Blanca and Rosales and allow the flow of grain exports and other agricultural products. In times of drought, these products require alternative navigable routes to the Paraná Waterway, contributing to millions of tons of national production being transported for foreign trade.

• The low level of the Paraná River limits agricultural exports from Argentina.

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