Companhia Docas do Rio de Janeiro (CDRJ) reactivated the North Channel of Ilha das Cabras, at Itaguaí Port, with the objective of improving the waterway infrastructure and increasing the productivity and billing rates. The interconnection channel is 9.4 meters deep and has an operational draft of 8.9 meters, being able to receive vessels that are up to 242 meters long and 32 meters wide. The channel will start operating in the next few days, as soon as the Port Authority’s Normative Instruction is published. According to the superintendent of Port Management for the Ports of Itaguaí and Angra dos Reis, Alexandre Neves, the reestablishment of the channel allows a new operational dynamic in the maneuver of vessels that access Itaguaí: “The North Channel of Ilha das Cabras creates a stretch that can work as a double track, thus encouraging growth in productivity of the terminals and the port, due to the expansion of the berth occupancy rate and an increase in cargo handling.” Another relevant point, according to Neves, “is the proximity of this channel to the port expansion area, which now has a channel as a facilitator for a future project.” The channel had been deactivated in 2011 due to the works at the Nuclear Submarine Base and Sudeste Port’s private use terminal, in order to avoid accidents due to nearby dredging. With the completion of these works, the CDRJ’s port management department developed a project to reactivate the channel. Thus, new bathymetry and new nautical signaling were implemented, to reestablish navigability. After approvals by the Brazilian Navy (MB), CDRJ installed the signaling buoys and established the type of vessel permitted and the operating draft.
Source: Datamar News