La Comisión Administradora del Río de la Plata (CARP) said that Boskalis International Uruguay and Jan De Nul have been shortlisted to continue in the running in the international tender to dredge the Martín García Channel, a five-year contract that seeks to ensure the navigability of a key route for regional trade.
Jan De Nul, which has just been awarded in consortium with Servimagnus the concession for the Paraná-Paraguay waterway for 25 years, and Boskalis now move on to the stage of opening the financial bids, scheduled for June 25 in Buenos Aires.
The Martín García Channel extends for about 106.5km from km 39 of the Common Zone Channel of the Río de la Plata to km 0 of the Uruguay River and is an important route for the foreign trade of Argentina and Uruguay.
The waterway has a depth of 34 feet, equivalent to 10.36m, in soft bottoms, and 38 feet, equivalent to 11.58m, in hard bottoms. It was built as a single-lane canal for vessels of up to 245m in length and 32.6m in beam.
According to CARP, this dredging program is a fundamental step in guaranteeing the navigability and safety of the Martín García Channel, a strategic infrastructure for trade and regional connectivity.