Flood damage repaired at Brazil port

Flood damage repaired at Brazil port    Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva presided over a ceremony last week where the Brazil government handed over a reconstructed berth to the Port of Itajai.
   Flooding of the Itajai-Acu River in November 2008 caused severe damage to the port, washing away two berths and temporarily halting port operations. An official state of emergency was declared by the Brazilian government and more than 100 people were killed during the disaster.

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivers a speech in Itajai Sept. 13 during transfer of Berth 2 to the Itajai Port Authority.

   APM Terminals, which owns and operates a terminal concession in the port, will take over the reconstructed Berth 2 from the port authority and finish reconstruction of the 273-meter berth with the installation of crane rails and electric power infrastructure for quayside ship-to-shore cranes.
   'We are grateful for the massive reconstruction effort undertaken by the Brazilian government following the flood, and we are pleased to report that with renovations well underway,' said Walter Joos, APM Terminals Itajai managing director.
   APM, part of A.P. Moller – Maersk, expects to finalize the berth and yard construction of Berth 2 during the next months. Once completed, Berths 1 and 2 will provide a combined berth length of 558 meters. APM Terminals also has priority berthing at Berth 3, until 2012. Dredging of the river to a channel depth of 14 meters is expected to begin later this year. The current depth is 10.5 meters, restricting calls from larger vessels.
   APM said the shipping community is urging construction of a new 450-meter turning basin to allow the port to accommodate larger ships.
   The Port Complex of Itajai, which includes terminals operated on the opposite side of the river, was Brazil's second-largest container port, after the Port of Santos, handling 682,000 TEUs in 2007 and 694,000 TEUs in 2008. Due to the flooding damage Itajai's container volume fell to fourth place among Brazilian ports in 2009, with combined volume of 593,000 TEUs. This year, container volume has soared 78 percent and is expected to reach more than 1 million TEUs, APM said.