• €2 million investment in a new pusher tug will allow operations in previously inaccessible inland areas of the Tagus and Douro rivers
  • a €3 million phased investment in a new river quay at Castanheira do Ribatejo in the Tagus river

 

The Portuguese GROUP ETE made an investment of €2 million in its new state-of-the-art pusher tug Bai´a do Seixal, named in early July by the Portuguese Minister of the Sea,Ana Paula Vitorino in a ceremony also attended by the State Secretary of Fisheries, Jose´ Apolina´rio and the Mayor of Seixal, Joaquim Santos.

This vessel is a 100% portuguese design and naval engineering project built by the Portuguese shipbuilder Navaltagus, one of the companies of the ETE GROUP. According to Miguel Trova~o, Navaltagus managing director, “This is an innovative pusher tug and the first of its kind built in Portugal.

It offers high manoeuvrability, provides very good towing capacity, is quite well equipped, has a lift bridge and it is already prepared to change its propulsion to natural gas (LNG — liquefied natural gas), thus meeting environmental challenges. This vessel’s combined overall length of 16.50m, breadth of 8.80m, depth of 3.65m, draught of 2.38m and bollard pull of 16 tonnes, allow it to overcome the constraints to the navigation of waterways with narrow, winding areas and low draughts either in the Tagus or Douro rivers.” 

According to Luis Figueiredo, shareholder and Board Member of ETE GROUP,“this pusher tug to be at the service of Empresa de Tra´fego e Estiva (ETE), will allow the group to strengthen its position as the largest inland waterways operator in Portugal, handling over two million tonnes per year. But because navigation in previously inaccessible areas of the Tagus and Douro rivers is now possible, conditions are created for the national government to define policies that strategically promote the inland waterway transportation of goods on these two main Portuguese rivers. There will be benefits for the environment, the country and the local economies where new river quays and logistic platforms will be settled.

“Inland water transport contributes to the creation of a sustainable low carbon economy and an efficient trading environment, since it reduces the environmental footprint of freight transport — emissions of CO2 and NOx per tonne moved by waterways may represent less 10% and 9% when  compared with road transport, with fuel consumption being almost eight times lower — and improves road traffic, since each barge carries the amount of goods transported by 70 trucks,” explains a Group shareholder.

For Lui´s Nagy, ETE GROUP CEO, “it is fundamental that the Portuguese government begins to offer Portuguese companies operating in the areas of port operations, inland water transport and maritime shipping, the same conditions and support existing in other EU countries. This policies are critical to allow ETE GROUP to maintain the activities it develops as well as its investment plans.”

ETE GROUP has an ongoing project for the construction and operation of a new river quay in Castanheira do Ribatejo requiring a phased investment of €3 million. Of this, €1 million will be spent on construction and €2 million on equipment. The environmental impact study has been under assessment by the Portuguese Environment Agency since March. Companhia do Porto da Castanheira was the company created by the ETE GROUP to ensure the movement of containers and other goods from the North Lisbon Logistics Platform. This pier will serve inland waterways, contributing to the intermodal development of the Port of Lisbon once it will connect the different terminals of this port and the logistics platform, and will also reduce significantly the road traffic congestion in the urban area of Lisbon, with a decrease that can reach up to 750 trucks / day.

ABOUT ETE GROUP

ETE GROUP was born in 1936, with Empresa de Tra´fego e Estiva, at the time specialized in inland water transport, having pioneered in 1950 the introduction of midstream operations concept using floating cranes, barges and tugs. Currently ETE GROUP is the operator with the largest number of port concessions in Portugal, the largest shipping company and the market leader in shipping agency in Portuguese Ports. Its vast experience in the maritime, port and river sectors makes the Group a reference in the maritime economy at national and international level, being present in five countries (Cape Verde, Colombia, Mozambique, Portugal and Uruguay) and three continents. Its six main areas of activity are Port Operations, Inland Waterways Transport, Maritime Transportation, Shipping Agents, Logistics Operations and Engineering and Ship Repairs, integrating more than 40 companies.