Northern Brazil News

U.S. grains merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co said on Tuesday it has carried out the largest soybean shipment in the history of the Ponta da Montanha Grain Terminal (TGPM), located in the northern Brazilian city of Barcarena, as it shipped 84,802 tonnes in a single vessel.It also represented the largest volume ever shipped on a grain vessel from ports located in the Amazon Basin, the company told Reuters."This showed us that we have one more option to move soybeans through the TGPM, using our own vessel...

Wärtsilä will supply the engines for two new pusher tugs being built for the Brazilian operator Hidrovias do Brasil at the Uzmar Shipyard in Turkey. There is an option for an additional two vessels. The Hidrovias fleet already includes a number of vessels operating with Wärtsilä engines, and their operational dependability and competitive lifecycle cost were cited as key considerations in the award of this latest contract, which was signed in the second quarter of 2021, Wärtsilä…

Wärtsilä signed a seven-year optimized maintenance agreement to support the operations of two river pusher tugs owned by Hidrovias do Brasil and operating in Northern Brazil. Both boats operate with Wärtsilä 20 engines, often in shallow waters and remote locations: challenging operating conditions make the planning and execution of maintenance difficult. Included in the agreement are Wärtsilä’s Data-Driven Dynamic Maintenance Planning and Expert Insight innovations to deliver remote operational and technical support…

Brazil’s waterways have enormous potential for commercial transport, but are still underused and inefficient in the country’s 12 river basins, according to Brazil’s National Transport Confederation (CNT). Of the 63,000 kilometers (km) that could potentially be used for inland navigation, only 19,500 km (30.9%) of the existing network is currently used commercially for cargo and passenger transport, leaving more than two-thirds unused.However, despite wasted opportunities, Brazilian rivers have registered an increase in transported volume in recent years…

China's iron ore imports in April fell to the lowest level in 18 months as poor weather in Brazil, the country's second-biggest supplier, disrupted shipments and some production by miner Vale SA was halted after a mine accident.Arrivals of iron ore, a key steelmaking raw material, were 80.77 million tonnes last month, the lowest since October 2017, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday. That compares to 86.42 million tonnes in March and 82.92 million tonnes in April 2018.For the first four months of 2019…

The Panama Canal has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Port of Itaqui to promote the shipment of grains and other cargoes in the commercial route from Brazil through the Panama Canal to destinations located in the Pacific Ocean.Itaqui, located in São Luís, Maranhão, is the Brazilian port closest to the Panama Canal. It  has the infrastructure and connectivity necessary to move these exports to markets in Asia."With this agreement, the Panama Canal looks to promote the use of the Panamax Locks for grain transits originating in northern Brazil and traveling to markets in Asia" said a statement from Panama Canal Authority."We look forward to a very productive relationship while we work together on our mutual objectives of improving and facilitating global trade…

The CMA CGM group, a world leader in container shipping, announces the reshuffling of two services in addition to the MERCOSUL buyout project and pursues its development strategy in South America, with SAFRAN and SIRIUS. These two services between South America and Europe are: SAFRAN for Northern Europe and SIRIUS for the Mediterranean. SAFRAN will be starting in Rotterdam on September 27, 2017. With this service, the CMA CGM Group offers the fastest service on the trade to its customers. Calling at the port of Pecem also allows the CMA CGM Group to offer a new option to those already existing in northern Brazil during the fruit season. SIRIUS will be starting in Malta on October 6, 2017.

The MPA Academy – the training arm of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) – in partnership with the Singapore Management University (SMU) and Human Capital Leadership Institute, has officially launched its 2nd Advanced Maritime Leaders’ Programme (AMLP). Taking place from 20 to 25 April 2017, the six-day programme will gather 19 senior maritime and port officials from all regions including, Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Oceania. The Advanced Maritime Leaders’ Programme (AMLP) focuses on leadership development and is uniquely designed for senior maritime officers heading maritime and port administrations in their respective countries.

French shipping giant CMA CGM plans to use Kingston Container Terminal,  Jamaica as a strategic Caribbean transshipment hub for an enlarged Panama Canal. The Port connects to US East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and northern Brazil. Kingston hub is centrally located in the Caribbean Sea, opposite the Panama Canal just one day’s sailing away, CMA CGM decided long ago to make this a strategic location. “Establishing a hub in Panama would have lengthened the route for certain lines plying the region, while Kingston has all the advantages, both for the very big ships and all the others,” explains Olivier Tretout, CEO of the Kingston Terminal.

Brasil Terminal Portuário (BTP), began the New Year with the establishment of two new productivity records. On February 10th while working the 6328 TEU capacity MSC Geneva, 206 moves per hour (MPH) were achieved while handling 1,980 containers, representing 44 crane moves per hour (MPH), surpassing the previous record of 35 crane MPH set in January. A joint venture between APM Terminals and Terminal Investment Limited (TIL), BTP began operations in November 2013, and handled 1.14 million TEUs in 2015, growing its  volume by 35% over 2014 levels in its first full-year of operation, to become the largest container terminal at the Port of Santos. Santos is South America’s busiest container port, with over 3.7 million TEUs handled in 2015.

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), the world's leading maritime and logistics service provider, has signed a contract with CGG to provide offshore agency support services for a new oil and gas exploration project in the Barreirinhas Basin in the equatorial margin of northern Brazil. As a specialist geoscience company, CGG is conducting the multi-client seismic project, which will be the oil and gas industry’s first regional broadband survey of the Barreirinhas basin. ISS will provide a range of services for the Barreirinhas project including port agency, crew transfer, visa assistance and cargo services. CGG is deploying its specialized seismic vessel, the Oceanic Vega, to acquire the 14,500-km² 3D seismic survey.

Thousands of cattle owned by beef producer Minerva SA are thought to have died when a boat leaving a port in northern Brazil overturned, the company and Williams Shipping Agents said on Tuesday. Minerva said in a securities filing that a ship transporting its cattle had tipped over after departing from the Vila do Conde port in Barcarena. There were no human victims, it said. Local news site G1 showed images of some cattle escaping from the side of the ship and swimming at the water's surface while most remained trapped. Williams Shipping Agents said the ship was carrying 5,000 cows, though a Minerva representative could not confirm the number. Minerva said in the filing that once the cattle left the dock they became the responsibility of the shipping firm, which it did not name.

U.S. agribusiness company Archer Daniels Midland Co has agreed to sell a 50-percent stake in its Barcarena grain export terminal in northern Brazil to commodities trader Glencore PLC, the company said during an analyst call on Tuesday. The companies are planning to increase the terminal's annual capacity to 6 million tonnes, from the current 1.5 million tonnes, after the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2015 pending regulatory approvals, ADM later detailed in a news release. The upgrade will allow the terminal to begin loading larger panamax vessels, which can hold around 60,000 tonnes, the company said. "Agricultural production is expanding rapidly in northern and western Brazil…

Two bulk shipments of Brazilian soybeans arrived at the U.S. ports of Wilmington, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, over the weekend, the first large South American shipments to hit the U.S. East Coast this season, Reuters shipping data showed. They were the latest shipments since two cargoes arrived at the U.S. Gulf Coast early last month, starting the country's biggest wave of soy imports in history, with about 2 million tonnes expected to reach U.S. shores over the next two months.

Two new grain - and oilseed-loading terminals have been inaugurated at Miritituba and Barcarena in the northern Brazil state of Para. Together, they are expected to increase the country's export capacity by 4 million tons per year. This year, the new terminals will handle about 2.5 million tons, mostly soy, and they are expected to be operating at full capacity next year. Brazil's soy harvests have been growing each year, overloading highways leading to the jammed southern ports of Santos and Paranagua and slowing exports. The new terminals will allow some of the grain to be diverted away from the crowded southern ports by taking advantage…

ClassNK has released its new PrimeShip-GREEN/MinPower software, developed to help shipyards comply with the EEDI requirements of the Amendment to MARPOL Annex VI by calculating minimum propulsion power requirements in compliance with ‘IMO 2013 Interim Guidelines for Determining Minimum Propulsion Power to Maintain the Manoeuvrability of Ships In Adverse Conditions’. To evaluate minimum propulsion power requirement, added resistance in irregular waves should be calculated based on ship’s Lines, and this calculation can be difficult especially at the initial design stage. Consequently ClassNK has  developed this simplified formula to calculate added resistance in waves using only basic information such as main ship specifications…