The Galileo Galilei dredger arrives at the port of Itajai this Friday (17th) to carry out work to maintain the draft on the Itajai-Asu river. Dredging should “save” the access channel to the port complex of Itajai and Navegantes, which has suffered from heavy rains of the past few days. This made it impossible for larger ships to enter the ports.

Dredger Galileo Galilei begins work to “rescue” the port of Itajai. Photo: Secom BC/Disclosure

In addition to Galileo, which has been working to widen the Praia Central de Balneario Camboriú sand strip, another dredger, Water Injection, is also working to maintain the canal.

This combined action will increase the depth of the approach channel and therefore allow larger vessels to circulate undisturbed without the risk of larger vessels running aground during this process.

The Galileo dredger is of the bunker type, that is, it works by suction (extracting waste through a tank and directing it to the open sea, where it is thrown out) and has a tank capacity of 18,000 cubic meters. In the course of work, internal and external channels must be restored to 14 and 14.5 meters and depth.

This dredger is already performing routine operations at the berths of the ports of Itajaí and Navegantes under a contract between the Port Authority and Van Oord worth over BRL 230 million. Maintaining the depth of draft is part of the contract requirement.

“Continuous channel maintenance is essential for better navigation of large vessels. This time, Galileo Galilei’s dredge had to be called in to maintain the draft. Mooring berths should be at greater depths to avoid any risk that could endanger ships. Therefore, the port of Itajai continues to deepen the berths so that everything flows in operations,” concluded Fabio da Veiga, manager of the port of Itajai.