Van Oord wraps up dredging of Brazil’s Suape Port

Dutch marine projects company Van Oord has completed the dredging of the outer channel to the Port of Suape in northeastern Brazil.

Van Oord has deepened the access channel to the Port of Suape from 15 to 20 metres using various dredgers. The dredging of the channel up to 20 metres enables the port to handle larger container and liquid bulk vessels, thus facilitating export activities.

Tim Helbo, Director Dredging at Van Oord, said the dredging works were started in 2011 but were interrupted repeatedly since then.

The works entailed the removal of five million cubic metres of earth. A portion of the earth consists of rock, hence the need for drilling and blasting in addition to dredging.

The dredging at the Port of Suape is one part of the scope of work in Brazil under a contract awarded to Van Oord in 2011. The remainder of the scope entailed dredging of an access channel and a basin at a local shipyard,