South America’s busiest port, the Port of Santos, has been shut down due to flooding, calling into question the legitimacy of its dredging plan to become mega-ship ready, reported JOC.com.
The port was shut for 30 hours due to flooding, said to be caused by the highest tide in 11 years and beach erosion.
Rodolfo Bonafim, a Santos-based climatologist said: “That area of beach has already suffered a reduced strip of sand for 40 years, now these damages are accelerated, but there’s no consensus that dredging is causing it.
“What we know is that with the deepening of the channel, the waves get higher, the magnitude of these waves’ increases and erosion ends up being stronger.”
In July, 2016, PTI reported that port owner Cearaportus and APM Terminals had announced their plan to invest US$175 million in the Port of Pecem, Brazil to turn it into a regional transhipment hub along the East Coast of South America hub for mega-ships.
