Van Oord's joint venture (JV) with Boskalis has secured a deal from the Brazilian Ministry of Transport, Ports and Civil to undertake dredging activities at the port of Santos.
The JV has agreed to carry out capital and maintenance dredging at the port. It is also currently planning to conduct studies and review the design of the navigation channels and berths of the port in the upcoming months.
The deal will see the scheduled dredging operations begin by later this year, and will entail deployment of various trailing suction hopper dredgers and a backhoe dredger. The activities are expected to be completed by next year.
Van Oord has completed more than 40 dredging and marine construction projects along the Brazilian coastline so far.
The company has been conducting maintenance dredging in the port of Santos since 2013, and is currently executing dredging work in the Piaçaguera river area.
The Piaçaguera river is situated just behind the city of Santos, and is to be deepened under the new initiative in order to create access for larger vessels and stimulate Brazil's export.
Port of Santos currently handles around 30% of Brazil’s total foreign trade, and is involved in the export of various Brazilian produced goods including grain, fruit, iron ore, oil and fertilisers.
Van Oord is also currently involved in the development of a deep-water container terminal at Karachi Port, Pakistan, which entered the final phase of infrastructure development in December last year, the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) confirmed.
The Terminal is expected to be able to welcome vessels by mid-April according to the Express Tribune.
