Port of Santos begins maintenance dredging of the channel and vessel berths

In the last dredging campaign, in July, 400 thousand cubic meters of sediments were removed (APS/Disclosure)

The Autoridade Portuária de Santos (APS) will begin, on Sunday, a scheduled maintenance dredging service of the navigation channel and vessel berths at Port of Santos. This is a seasonal campaign, carried out during periods of greater sediment deposition: summer (due to rainfall) and winter (due to storm surges).

The service is expected to continue until February 28 of next year and aims to maintain the Port’s depth at 15 meters. “Dredging is an essential measure precisely to maintain the competitiveness of the port complex and ideal navigation and berthing conditions”, recalls APS President Anderson Pomini. “At the same time that we maintain the current depth, we are already carrying out the deepening of the channel to 16 meters, through rock removal works”, the President emphasizes, referring to the removal of rocks located on the bottom of the navigation channel, which is in the final phase of the executive design.

Port of Santos is located in an estuary that receives a significant volume of sediments, which may cause silting and reduce the depth of the channel, mainly due to rainfall — especially summer storms — and high-intensity oceanographic events, such as storm surges. Therefore, maintenance dredging is essential to ensure the efficiency of port operations.

APS carried out its last dredging campaign in July of this year, removing approximately 400 thousand cubic meters (m³) of sediments. The material removed from the channel bed is disposed of at the Polígono de Disposição Oceânica (PDO), an area located approximately 12 km from the entrance of the Port, licensed by the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (Ibama) to receive these materials.

The activities are covered by Operating License No. 1382/2017, issued by Ibama.