Rio de Janeiro: Shanghai Dredging Company (SDC) is the leading shareholder in a consortium that has won the prestigious Reais201M contract to dredge the port of Santos in Brazil from 13 meters down to 15 metres.
This is part of the Brazilian government's USD240BN PAC (Programme to Accelerate the Economy) initiative which will see Reais1.4Bn spent on dredging projects in Brazil over the next year or so. The tender for Santos, the third of the PAC sequence, is just the first of many to come for the SDC, according to a spokesman for the Brazilian consortium Draga Brasil (which includes EIT, Equipav and DTA Engenharia as well as SDC which operates in Brazil under the name CHEC Dredging).
The contract stipulates that some 13.62m cu mtr of sediment will need to be removed from the Santos channel to get the new depth down to 15 mtr, and that will then allow the next generation of vessels to arrive. The maximum size containership, for example, that will be able to berth will be of around 9,000 TEU as opposed to the 5,000 TEU vessels that can berth today.
This will be a tremendous boost to carriers like NYK Line, K Line, Mitsui OSK Line, Evergreen and China Shipping COmpany who all have a strong presence in the Brazilian international trades.
SDC is also understood to be interested in bidding for the Rio de Janeiro contract and two or three others in the government's Reais1.4BN National Dredging Plan.
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