TCU Approves Tender for Itajaí Port's Waterway Access Channel
Cubierto por 3 fuentesPublicado
- Gov brSegundo canal de acesso público do país é aprovado pelo TCU
- agencia infraANTAQ deve votar concessão do canal de acesso a Itajaí em novembro
- agencia infraTecon 10 e canal de Itajaí devem ganhar ritmo no governo após eleições
- jornal portuarioJBS Terminais confirma interesse no leilão e projeta expansão do Porto de Itajaí
Brazil's Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) approved, on October 19, the tender for the Waterway Access Channel to the Port of Itajaí, in Santa Catarina. The project, driven by the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) and the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq), involves estimated investments of R$ 311 million and will be the second public access channel to be put out to tender in the country's history, after the Paranaguá Channel.
Scope of the Concession
The channel concession will run for 25 years and includes periodic dredging, ongoing maintenance, nautical signaling, and integrated management of waterway traffic. According to the government, the infrastructure must be able to handle growing traffic, estimated at 3.43 million TEUs per year by the end of the contract. The Minister of Ports and Airports, Tomé Franca, noted that the project continues the modernization plan for Brazilian ports, while the National Secretary of Ports, Alex Ávila, highlighted that it consolidates the new waterway infrastructure management model launched with the Paranaguá Channel concession.
Next Steps
The TCU suggested refining the project's technical criteria, particularly the engineering solutions and the validation mechanisms for the risk matrix, before the bidding documents are sent to Antaq to set the tender date, expected in the second half of the year. According to Agência iNFRA, Antaq plans to vote on the concession at a meeting on November 12, after which the tender notice could be published before the end of the year. The modeling anticipates that, by the fourth year of the contract, the channel's deepening will reach 16 meters, allowing vessels of up to 400 meters in length overall and 14.5 meters of draft to operate.
Delays Due to the Electoral Calendar
According to Agência iNFRA, the project's progress had been held back mainly by political factors: the local port authority went so far as to request, in July, the suspension of the concession, citing flaws in the modeling—a request that was rejected—and sensitivity increased because political allies of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the region were running for office in the October elections. With the electoral process settled, government technical staff no longer see reasons for the concession not to move forward.
Operator Interest
In parallel, JBS Terminais confirmed its interest in participating in the future tender for the permanent lease of the ITJ01 terminal at the Port of Itajaí. Its CEO, Aristides Russi Júnior, viewed the prospect of the access channel concession positively, provided the model establishes clear responsibilities, service continuity, and investment predictability, in a context in which the region's navigability conditions have been affected by reduced depth and by the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.
