Port authority eager to renew Port of Santos dredging license

Santos Port Authority (SPA), the state-owned company responsible for managing the largest port complex in Brazil, asked Ibama, the country’s main environmental agency, to renew its dredging licenses to deepen to 15 meters the berths and waterway accesses of warehouses 12A to 23.

SPA wants to bring an early renewal to the licenses to avoid mishaps concerning environmental approval once the services are contracted. This is important because, without an up-to-date Ibama approval, the process can delay future services of such kind in the port of Santos.

The Port Authority’s request refers to the renewal of the environmental license necessary to start the dredging works that will reinforce that previous quay works already completed on this stretch. According to SPA, the contract is under study, and there is no estimate of the amounts to be invested in this project.

Currently, the maintenance dredging of the navigation channel, berths, and maneuvering basins of the Port of Santos is carried out by Van Oord Marine Operations. According to SPA, the service is being done regularly, according to the contract signed at the beginning of the year.

The Dutch company took over the dredging after an intense legal battle between the Port Authority and DTA Engenharia – the former service provider – which ended in March. Approximately 210 thousand cubic meters were dredged in 25 berths in the last five months.

According to Van Oord, the mooring berths are the most challenging regions to dredge due to the lack of available berths. Therefore, the service was carried out using mechanical dredgers (clamshells) and self-propelled barges.

The company mobilized the largest dredger in its fleet to the channel, the HAM 318. It is a hopper dredger with a cistern capacity of 40,000 cubic meters. The works with this vessel began on the 28th.

Judicial dispute

At the beginning of the year, dredging became a matter of concern for users of the Port of Santos. They feared silting (deposition of sediments in the navigation channel and the berths) and, consequently, operational losses amid the fight between SPA and DTA.

The Port Authority understood that an agreement signed with DTA had expired in January and, thus, had already contracted Van Oord to provide the service after the Dutch company presented the best proposal (R$ 371 million) in a competition opened by the state-owned company last year.

DTA did not agree with the end of the legal bond and went to court to ensure the continuity of the dredging services until April, alleging losses due to contractual issues. Finally, the fight ended in March, and the companies agreed to terminate the contract.

Source: A Tribuna

To read the full original article, please go to: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/spa-quer-renovar-licenca-para-dragagem-do-porto-de-santos

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