In the Uruguay River, a series of projects were unsuccessful, among which I highlight:
TO) That of the Provincias Unidas and Alianza del Plata ships promoted by President Mujica, who even named the former and which, due to lack of cargo, were declared abandoned in 2019.
B) The GF Paysandú ship, which began its operation on 7.24.2020, with the presence of President Lacalle Pou and which stopped operating for the same reason as the previous ones.
C) The Uruguay River waterway, which the CSI Ingenieros report has declared to be inconvenient from the economic, financial and social point of view.
Regarding this last project, in view of the fact that Dr. Lacalle Pou in 2019, in the debate he had with the FA candidate, Eng. Martínez, expressed his intention to promote this undertaking, in an article I authored published in the Magazine of the Maritime League, I stated that “it was very difficult to achieve” and gave a dozen reasons to support my assertion. The time elapsed indicates that the President was badly advised for not having been able, to date, to materialize this initiative.
At present, two projects remain for analysis, the Itapebí terminal, promoted by the Mayor of Salto Dr. Andrés Lima and endorsed by the president of the Uruguayan delegation to the CTM of Salto Grande Dr. Albisu, which in what Regarding the establishment of a fluvial corridor in the Uruguay River, I consider it unfeasible.
The other project is the one promoted by the Mayor of Río Negro, Dr. Omar Lafluf, which involves deepening the channels of the Uruguay River to Fray Bentos to 34 feet to enable the operation of a Paraguayan company that is going to build a cellulose pulp plant that would begin to operate in 2025 and that, although it has not made a commitment, it has expressed its interest in this regard.
Considering that this project has a favorable consultancy report and in view of the fact that some specialists believe the opposite and believe that the reactivation of the port of Fray Bentos requires other types of measures, it seems important that the conclusions of this study be disseminated in order to to answer the following questions.
1.- If the cost of deepening the navigation channel from the Uruguay River to Fray Bentos has been considered, which could exceed one hundred million dollars, taking into account that it will be necessary to go from the current 25 feet to 34 feet deep and its maintenance?
2.– If it was taken into account that, for a ship with a 32-foot draft to operate at the foot of the dock, in the port of Fray Bentos, important civil works must be carried out because its piling is only 27 feet and does not allow dredging to 34 feet?
3.– What are the competitive advantages that make this company discard the port of Nueva Palmira and prefer that of Fray Bentos, when the barges that come through the Paraguay-Paraná waterway, with the aforementioned product, must navigate 90 kilometers upstream? , approximately, to unload it at this terminal and then return to the waterway, in ballast and navigate another 90 kilometers to enter it? Is the route to be followed by the overseas ship that goes to pick up the product at Fray Bentos, instead of loading it in Nueva Palmira and quickly entering the Río de la Plata, thereby carrying out, through the Río Uruguay, a similar question? a course, round trip, of 180 kilometers?
Alejandra Koch, vocal director for the Broad Front in the National Ports Administration
