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Finally, the port of Santos will be able to operate with ships of 366 meters in length. Bruno Tavares, President of Pilotage in São Paulo, says that the pilots have carried out training and participated in simulations to face the challenge with safety and excellence. Initially, two pilots and four tugboats will be needed to handle the arrival of the new panamax ships, which carry up to 14 TEUs.
With approval by the Brazilian Navy to receive 366-meter vessels, the largest vessels planned for the East Coast of South America, the dream of receiving large vessels will become a reality.
Known in the market as the New Panamax class, the ships measuring 366 in length and 52 meters in breadth have the capacity to transport up to 14 TEUs (units equivalent to a 20-foot container) in a single trip. So far Santos can only receive ships measuring 340 meters, which carry an average of 9 TEUs.
Bruno Tavares reinforces the concern with safety and the modernity that work involves. “Santos is a dynamic port and requires maintenance dredging. With the 366 meter ships, there will be no room for failure. We anticipate challenges and since 2017 we have been training pilots in centers of excellence in the United States and France, with models of manned ships, maneuver simulators, talking and exchanging experiences with captains who already maneuver these large ships, in the case of the of 366 meters. Getting ahead of challenges is very important.”
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According to Tavares, the operations will require a greater number of professionals. “We will need two pilots on board the ship and more limitations for the maneuvers in terms of meteorological conditions (winds and currents), they will be what we call special maneuvers”, he warns.
The proactivity and the training done in the USA gain special attention, mainly due to the technology used by the pilots. “Few training centers had this reduced-scale ship model, which is the 366. It is a manned model, different from the computational simulator. We move to a river or a lake – in general, a lake, where we practice the maneuvers we are going to perform in Porto”, he narrates.
In it, the pilot embarks and the hydrodynamic reactions are simulated. This ship has its own propeller and rudder, all controlled by the pilot from inside the ship. “It's all proportional to real life, but on a reduced scale, different from a virtual simulator. You feel the hydrodynamic effects, different from a maneuver simulator, which is like a state-of-the-art video game”, adds Tavares.
During the simulations of 366m vessels, the São Paulo Pilotage worked with a maximum draft of up to 14,20m. With the homologation of the new panamax with 366m in length for Santos, these parameters increase to 51m to 52m in breadth. The maximum draft of 14,20m has prospects of reaching 14,50m.
Technology and dredging
Innovation does not stop at Pilotage in São Paulo, as the President explains: “We have equipment that we take on board, which are the PPUs (Portable Pilot Unit), which help maneuver special ships. There is also the C3OT (Coordination, Communications and Traffic Operations Center), which is where we carry out, together with the Port Authority, the control of traffic and ship operations. I can say that, today, we are well served in the use of existing technologies in the market”, he comments.
He assesses as positive the possibility of increasing dredging, deepening the navigation channel, as another measure that may be required by the Federal Government of the future Port concessionaire. “Without constant maintenance dredging with increasing depths, the port's work is greatly impaired. We want Porto to grow, not to stop producing and for it to be possible to increasingly optimize the operations and dynamics of the complex. Pilotage is here to help with that assessment. We always have to do it in the best and safest way possible”.
Information for the press with José Rodrigues by phone (13) 99711-8250 or Ivani Cardoso by phone (11) 999324765
