Port of Imbituba aims to expand berthing area to accommodate six ships at once

In view of the growing demand for an increased cargo handling capacity, SCPAR Porto de Imbituba wants to increase the number of simultaneous berths of up to six vessels. When completed, the expansion work will make the Port of Imbituba the largest in Santa Catarina regarding berthing capacity, with approximately 1.6 km of a linear wharf. Today, the port complex has three piers and can receive up to four vessels simultaneously.

The expansion plans should come to fruition in the medium term, but they should begin to take shape in the next 30 days with the recovery and expansion of Pier 3. The interventions on Berth 3 are in the final stages and represent SCPAR’s largest and most important work to date, with a contribution of more than R$ 92 million fully funded by the Port Authority.

With completion expected in 2025, Pier 3’s structural reinforcement will widen the berth and enable greater automation, allowing the installation of new cargo handling equipment such as a ship loader. Pier 3 will also receive two dolphins, one for berthing and one for mooring, allowing larger ships up to 300 meters to be accepted at the port, exceeding the current limit of 205 meters (LOA). In addition, SCPAR intends to dredge the site deeper after the work is completed, matching the maximum draft capacity of Berth 3 to that of Piers 1 and 2, which are 15 meters deep.

Concurrent with the work on Pier 3, the Port Authority has already finalized the basic project and should launch, in the first half of this year, a tender to find a company to install a dolphin at the tip of Pier 2, increasing the common area of Piers 1 and 2 to 700 m, which today are together 660 m. The structure will allow the permanent berthing of three ships, regardless of their characteristics, different from what currently occurs.

According to the Port Authority, negotiations are underway to convert the rear of Pier 2, which is currently closed, into another berthing point with a length of about 250 meters for the exclusive use of bulk carriers. The private sector is expected to invest at least R$ 30 million to prepare the site.

SCPAR Porto de Imbituba has begun launching the project for Pier 6, located transversally to the existing berths in the current berthing area. Although this project is still in its early stages of evaluation, the goal is to create a mooring berth for liquid bulk and general cargo ships, redirecting the movement of these cargoes to a specific pier.

Complementary investments

The focus on expanding the berthing capacity is complemented by other strategic actions put forward by SCPAR Porto de Imbituba, such as the recovery and reinforcement of the shelter jetty. However, unlike the other works, which involve Port Authority resources and private investments, the responsibility for the pier will fall unto SCPAR, in collaboration with the National Articulation Secretariat of the State of Santa Catarina, so that the Federal Government, as the owner of the organized port, may provide the necessary resources.

In addition to physical structure improvements, the port’s management is working to improve the automation and modernization of information technology processes. For example, it is about to reopen the bidding process for the new data center, which will increase data storage and processing capacity and operational security.

The port is training a team on the Brazilian personal information protection law (LGPD), as well as putting continuous effort into the “Gate Sem Parar” project, which seeks to speed up the entry of trucks with facial recognition technology, license plate identification, and data import through preliminary screening, reducing the formation of queues at the entrance gates. Later this year, it will also acquire two electronic road scales to expedite cargo weighing and deliver a new access fate in the next 30 days.

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