On Tuesday, February 23, the Port of Santos was approved by the Brazilian Navy to host vessels of up to 366 meters in length – the largest vessels planned to visit the East Coast of South America. This authorization further strengthens the port’s position as a hub port in South America. With almost 30% of the national trade chain, the Santos port complex is preparing for further growth in container movements resulting from the planned expansions, including two new areas in Saboó, on the right bank. In addition, BR do Mar, a Minfra project to encourage cabotage, should benefit the port as a cargo hub. Even without including BR do Mar, the expected growth is 3.3% per year for this type of cargo, with projections being of growth from 4.4 million TEU today, to 7.9 million by 2040, as outlined by the Development Plan and Zoning (PDZ) project for the Port of Santos, approved last year. Today the Port of Santos receives vessels up to 340 meters long, which have a 9,000 TEU capacity. With the new approval for larger vessels, vessel capacity will increase to a maximum of 14,000 TEU, in a process that also involved the Pilotage of São Paulo and the University of São Paulo (USP), studied and performed simulations of maneuverability, hydrodynamic interaction, and mooring plans, before these vessels were approved to navigate the channel. PA’s monitoring of the market shows that container handling has been increasing steadily over the years.
Source: Datamar News