A Chinese consortium will carry out the dredging of the port of Barranquilla for six months

The afternoon of March 15, He finds there Cormagdalena awarded the maintenance dredging contract in the access channel to the port of Barranquilla to the society Shanghai – Pan American Dredging 2023, from China, until September 30 (six months). This was announced by the director of port affairs of the town hall of Barranquilla, Jose Curvelovia his Twitter account.

The consortium is represented Xu Yan and is composed of CCCC Shanghai Dredging CO. LTDwhich holds a 70% interest, and Panamerican Dredging & Engineering SASwhich owns the remaining 30% and is legally represented by Carlos Alfonso Guerrero Acosta.

Cormagdalena explained in a statement that “through Patrimonio Autónomo Findeter – Cormagdalena, a contract has been awarded in order to maintain the project of operational conditions in the port area of ​​Barranquilla, as it currently is” and also added that “the signing of the contract will guarantee a permanent dredge in the access channel to the port of the Atlantic capital for a period of six months, maintaining the current draft established by the Marine Branch”.

The entity added that the contract will maintain the conditions of departure and arrival of foreign trade vessels in the port during its term.

“In this way, we show the commitment of the national government, the Ministry of transportation and Cormagdalena with the department of Atlántico and the navigability of the Magdalena Riverwhich will undoubtedly translate into positive figures for the imports and exports of this important port,” he said for his part. Alvaro Redondo Castillodirector of the entity when signing the agreement.

The granted budget that was presented by the contracted company was 55,487 million pesos. The dredge is expected to enter service in the next few days.

According to a report by Maritime General Directorate (Dimar), the constant work of the port made it possible to reach a depth of 10 meters. “According to the analyzes carried out by the high dynamics of the transit of boats, sedimentation, changes in the level of the Magdalena River in the dry season and dredging works, the parameters have been established,” the report states.

Dimar announced that in the coming days they will monitor the maneuverability of vessels that are within the maximum authorized limits and will inform of advances in the sector based on the assignments and interventions that take place, in addition to the winds.

“The Colombian Maritime Authority will continue to monitor the evolution of seaworthiness conditions with specialized professional personnel, practical pilots and hydrographic information available,” the authority noted.

This project will remain in force until the next update and any change or restriction it presents must be informed by the same entity to adopt the relevant measures “guaranteeing the global, maritime and fluvial security of the country”, the statement reads. .

Remember that the Minister of Transport, Guillaume Reyesinsisted that “those six-month contracts that have done so much damage to the dredging process that our river and this part of the river need will come to an end”, speaking of the dredging of the port of Barranquilla during a visit he made to the city to discuss this matter with the mayor, Jaime Pumarejo.

Such that before the end of June, the process would be assigned to continue dredging, but permanently, by the Magdalena River, not by six-month concessions. “It will already be the dredging and navigability of the Magdalena River in the long term… It was the famous project that failed twice in the previous government, of the APP. Now we have changed it and it will be a contract that will cover two issues: dredging and the navigability of the Magdalena River,” he said.