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The historical descent of the Paraná river has already caused losses to the country for “more than 240 million dollars” in these first five months of the year, according to a study by the Rosario Stock Exchange (BCR), and the situation causes delays and stranding of ships in the area.
The decrease in the level of the river suffers navigation, the maximum load of ships and barges in port terminals of the Gran Rosario, epicenter of the country’s agro-industry.
According to a BCR report, “for almost 50 years, the downspout has not reached a depth of 0.40 meters in the Rosario port.”
This situation, say specialists from the Rosario stock market entity, “implies enormous logistical, transportation and industrialization problems with an associated cost of US $ 243 million in the first four months of 2020.”
One of the main problems associated with the downspout of the river is “the costs related to the need to adjust the volume of cargo in the Gran Rosario and carry out completion in other ports in the area.”
And also “the costs of smaller ships that incur a false freight, as they cannot complete their maximum load capacity,” they explained.
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On the other hand, the BCR estimated that between March of this year and the current month, “about 510 ships that entered the greater Rosario to look for grains, flour and oils, have had problems in loading, given the significant drop in the Parana River”.
In the last few hours, the navigation of ships in the southern province suffered complications, due to a collapse on the shore of the main channel of the waterway.
The collapse in the main channel occurred last Friday, at kilometer 390, at the height of the towns of General Lagos and Arroyo Seco, in the south of Santa Fe.
As a result of this situation, several ships began to pile up in the roads of the ports in the area, causing significant delays.
“Today, there are no more ships stranded in the area,” a spokesman for the Arroyo Seco Delegation of the Argentine Naval Prefecture told Telam.
However, in the place, dredgers are working to normalize the permitted height of navigation and thus be able to resume activity.
The concessionaire company for the waterway, Jan de Nul, informed the press, that so far “more than a meter depth has already been recovered and the Manzanillo dredger continues to work intensively on the site.”
“In addition to deepening, all alternatives are evaluated, including the possibility of changing the navigable trace of the canal in that area,” he said.
May 10, 2020