The Port of Barranquilla, in Colombia, reports six months of successful operation with a draught of ten metres. There has been a significant increase in the number of vessels now able to enter the port, in larger consignments and better turnaround times, all of which has reduced the cost of doing business there.
In 2023, the number of 190-metre vessels has increased by 37%, rising from 54 in the first seven months of 2022 to 74 this year. The increase in cargo moved by this type of vessel has also grown, from 753,188 tonnes in 2021 to 750,995 tonnes in 2022, then leaping to 1.129 million tonnes between January and July this year, which is an increase of 50.4% on the year.
Álvaro Redondo, Executive Director of port operator Cormagdalena, noted that the ten-metre draught is the result of “continuous” and “structured work”. The availability of deeper water has also made the river increasingly competitive, he added.
Measurements and forecasts made on the impact that inter-annual phenomena (El Niño and La Niña) can have on the behaviour of the river have allowed the authorities to dredge parts of the river where work has never been carried out before. In particular, the turning areas for vessels have been improved and there have been no negative incidents of any kind reported in the past 12 months, the latter the result of a better understanding of the river and how it works.
Under consideration is a redesign of the navigable channel, with modelling exercises already conducted with pilots in Denmark with this in mind. The channel needs to have its 30-degree curves reduced to ones of just 12 degrees. There are also aspirations to eventually deepen the draught from ten metre to 12 metres, although even larger dry bulk carriers could operate in shallower waters if the radial curves were improved.