Nov 04, 2015
Dredging at Port of Paranagua will allow for Larger Vessels
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
As part of their ongoing efforts to improve and expand the capacity of the Port of Paranagua in southern Brazil, port officials have signed an agreement for extensive dredging work to be done at the port. Most of the dredging will be done on the canal that leads to the port called the Canal de Galheta.
The canal is approximately 45 kilometers long and 7 kilometers wide. Currently the canal has a draft of 15 meters and that will increase to 16 meters after the work is completed. The 11 month project is expected to remove 14.2 million cubic meters of sediments. Additional dredging will be done leading up to the public berths and at dockside. The goal of the entire project is to increase the capacity and efficiency of the port.
The dredging work will allow larger grain and container vessels to utilize the port. The port regularly receives vessels 336 meters long and 51 meters wide and the additional draft is to make their passage into and out of the port more secure.
The Canal de Galheta is an artificial canal that was opened up in the 1970's to allow access to the ports of Paranagua and Antonina. The Port of Paranagua is now the second largest public port in Latin America and one of the largest grain export facilities in the world. The port has been aggressively expanding its operations in order to remain competitive with new ports opening up on the Amazon River and along the northeastern Atlantic Coast of Brazil.