Dredging Strategy

Santos signs for 16 metres while the 17-metre model stays in consultation

Published 19 July 2026 Editorial responsibility IMWO Region Americas Confidence Confirmed
View along the Port of Santos navigation channel from maintenance-dredging plant, with working berths and vessels on both banks

Autoridade Portuaria de Santos; September 2025 maintenance context, not Jan De Nul mobilisation

Santos has signed a five-year channel-deepening contract with Jan De Nul, but the port's access programme is not one package. Existing 15-metre maintenance, DTA's rock removal, Jan De Nul's 16-metre dredging scope and a proposed 25-year concession all sit on different contracts and evidence tracks.

What changed

APS signed the Jan De Nul deepening contract on 12 June after approving RLE 51/2025, Lot 1. The channel remains on a separate 15-metre maintenance cycle, while DTA holds the rock-removal package and received an Ibama installation licence in June. In parallel, ANTAQ is taking comments until 31 July on a proposed 25-year concession covering channel operation, maintenance, navigation systems and a later 17-metre target. None of those records shows Jan De Nul mobilised under the new contract.

Why it matters

The overlap is commercially important. The signed works contract includes licensing, design, deepening and two years of maintenance at 16 metres. The concession proposal still under consultation would give a future operator responsibility for operation, continuous maintenance, navigation aids, VTMIS, environmental management and a later 17-metre target.

Decision read

What remains open

No public handover point has been defined. APS needs accepted geometry, hydrography, environmental records, maintenance obligations and operating data from the current packages before a future concessionaire can inherit a defensible baseline. Until then, R$617.9 million for the signed works and R$688 million of proposed concession investment must remain separate, as must physical depth, operational draft and a future 17-metre target.

Next watchpoints

  • Jan De Nul work order and mobilisation under the signed 16-metre contract
  • Licensing and design closure across deepening and separate rock-removal scope
  • Baseline and post-work hydrography for each physical package
  • Resolution of the R$617.9 million announcement and R$619.78 million board record
  • Close of ANTAQ consultation and any revised concession documents after 31 July
  • Treatment of completed works, surveys, maintenance obligations and data at concession handover
  • Separate evidence for physical 16 metres, declared operating draft and the proposed 17-metre milestone

Related records 1

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