Rio de Janeiro: Asian container carriers using the southern Brazilian port of Itajai, are heartened by the fact that this week a team of technical experts from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (or Jica) have been carrying out technical studies at the port to try and help the port authority come up with a system to prevent any future catastrophic flooding of the port area.
After the terrible floods of one year ago, which killed 130 people in the state of Santa Catarina and destroyed much of the quay and infrastructure of the port of Itajai, the facility was closed for several weeks and then for more than six months saw its draught restricted to between 7m and 9m (compared to the usual 10.5 m).
During this period many carriers - including NYK Line, MOL Line, K Line, Evergreen, Hyundai and Hanjin - diverted calls to nearby ports such as Sao Francisco do Sul, Imbituba and Paranagua. A line manager at K Line in Sao Paulo welcomed the Japanese port study as it "could hold the key for the long-term future of the port".
Following the floods, the Itajai Port Authority (IPA) petitioned the state and federal governments to try and find ways to prevent these "every 20 to 30 year occurrences".
And this has led to the Japanese Jica team working closely with the IPA and state government in devising a new Integrated Plan to Contain the Floods. The state government has said it will fund the project, which is expected to cost around USD$50M during the first phase.
The APMoeller Terminal operated Teconvi box terminal in Itajai is currently having two of its four berths repaired by a construction following severe damage that occurred in November, 2008.
The Jica team were shown around Itajai by IPA president Antonio Ayres dos Santos last weekend.
A team of Japanese experts also toured Itajai back in 1983 and 1984 following severe flooding and recommended the construction of a channel upriver from the port area, but the plan was rejected on environmental and financial grounds. [11/11/09]
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