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Marintec South America 2017 takes off in Rio

Marintec South America 2017 takes off in Rio
The Marintec South America Conference and Expo was launched on Tuesday against a backdrop of expectations running high for the 14th Brazilian oil and gas bidding round, due to be held in late September.

The 14th edition of the event oragnised by UBM comes at a time of high expectations that the local maritime market will heat up again in the near future

The upcoming oil and gas round bidding sees a local maritime sector that is confident of an increase in industry-wide business will be forthcoming. Although major ship orders for local yard may be difficult to come by because of the relaxed local content policy being put in place, Brazilian shipyards are excited about the increased demand in maintenance and repair expected from offshore vessels, oil rigs, FPSOs and cargo ships.

Marintec SA is being held at the Sul America Convention Center in downtown Rio de Janeiro and attended by major local and international maritime executives, naval commanders and government agency directors.

The first presentation of the Marintec SA 2017 was given by Laira Gonçalves, director of the merchant marine department of the Transport, Port and Civil Aviation Ministry, who outlined the objectives and results of the investments in the development of the local OSV fleet, port support vessels, cabotage and inland waterway navigation, along with the rest of the maritime industry, by the Merchant Marine Fund (FMM). Laira highlighted that 739 newbuilds of various types were financed by the FMM between 2009 and 2016.

The director also explained to the audience how the procurement of local financing is managed and what steps local and foreign companies need to take in order to secure financing from a range of local banks.

Another important presentation was made by José de Oliva – president of the Port of Santos, the largest and busiest port in Latin America. With 16 km of usable quay and 23 km of navigable channels, the Port of Santos is truly impressive. Oliva highlighted the strategic importance of the port to Brazil’s economy, with as massive 28.8% of Brazil’s commercial balance, to the tune of $92.2bn in goods, transiting through the port.

Oliva also emphasised the developments being made in port logistics and transportation, in order to decrease the time ships need to wait offshore before berthing and more efficient loading and unloading operations.

In addition he highlighted efficient truck and rail operations within and outside the port, along with the introduction of expanded use of river barges and more efficient dredging operations, which he hopes will bring the ports operational depth to 16 meters, allowing larger ships to berth.

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