Port Of Suape Begins Dredging To Enable Arrival Of Billion-Dollar Projects. See Which Are Planned

Administration Wants to Make the Pier One of the Most Attractive in the World

The Port of Suape, located in the municipality of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, in the metropolitan region of Recife (PE), celebrates another achievement towards expanding services and modernization. This week, the Government of Pernambuco announced that the dredging works of the channel providing access to the location will be completed, enabling the docking of large vessels, such as oil tankers, and making the port complex more attractive to the international market.

The dredging works at the Port of Suape had been halted since 2013 due to a legal impasse with the Dutch company Royal Van Oord. At the time, the local government, led by Eduardo Campos (who passed away in a plane crash during the electoral campaign for president in 2014), did not reach an agreement with the Federal Government. The contract was halted with 85% of the work completed. Negotiations resumed in October 2021 and resulted in a healthy agreement for both parties, putting an end to the impasse.

Now, the Dutch will have five months to finalize the remaining dredging. According to the announcement, this will be the most complicated part of the operation, as there are many rocks on the seabed. On the other hand, new technologies will be used that did not exist in 2013. According to the CEO of the Port of Suape, Roberto Gusmão, the State Environmental Agency (CPRH) has already issued the environmental license for the execution of the works.

The dredging will deepen the main channel of the Port by 20 meters over six kilometers. The project will cost R$ 140 million. A state-of-the-art dredger will be used to remove sediments and rocks. “This intervention enables large-scale projects, which are the result of businesses we are closing to position the Port of Suape at the top of competitiveness,” remarked the Governor of Pernambuco, Paulo Câmara.

Billion-Dollar Projects That Will Land in Suape Promising Thousands of Jobs

The dredging of the access channel to the Port of Suape will enable the arrival of billion-dollar ventures already planned. In July of this year, Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, secured a plot at the Estaleiro Atlântico Sul, located in the organized port, aimed at installing a container terminal for the movement of 400,000 TEUs. The planned investment is R$ 2.6 billion.

This year it was also announced the arrival of a mineral terminal from Bemisa in the port area of Suape. The project is estimated to cost R$ 1.5 billion, with an expected movement of 13.5 million tons of iron ore per year, with the ability to stockpile 780,000 tons of the product on-site.

The Importance of Suape for Brazil

Pernambuco is located among the main capitals of the Northeast, being the state with the highest concentration of GDP in the region. The Port of Suape is an industrial complex where many companies seek energy solutions and logistics optimization.

The renewable energy sector is one of the major bets for the growth of the Port of Suape. The administration has already opened a public call for companies around the world that produce green hydrogen to settle in the area.

Recently, the Port of Suape had its autonomy restored. Thus, the operations of docks and piers, as well as lease contracts and the establishment of tariffs, are under the authority of the Port Authority. This allows the Port to conduct studies, prepare public notices, carry out bidding processes, and execute contracts related to port leases with greater agility and less bureaucracy. This condition had been lost in 2013 when the so-called Port Law (Law 14.047/20) came into effect.