Dredging - Transfer To The Private Sector

By Eduardo Amaral Gurgel Kiss¹

In an effort to reduce a serious bottleneck faced by port operators in Brazil the Brazilian Secretariat of Ports ("SEP") has decided to consider the transfer to the private sector of the responsibility for the access channels to public ports². Depending on the legal approved business model, this initiative means that private companies will dredge and maintain the access channels and receive compensation not from the government but rather from those utilizing the access channel.

As all those involved in this subject are aware of, dredging has become one of the most difficult problems for some ports in Brazil. Modern large ships are unable to approach many important berths designed to receive them. For instance, in the case of the Port of Santos - the Brazilian largest - many public tenders have been unsuccessful and its present depth is 13,20m.