Argentina’s government confirmed on Friday that the consortium comprising Belgian company Jan De Nul and local firm Servimagnus SA will be granted a 25-year concession to dredge and maintain navigational aids along the Paraguay-Paraná waterway, through which 80 percent of the country’s exports are transported. The Economy Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that “the signing of the contract, expected within a maximum of 30 days, will trigger a 13.5 percent reduction in logistics costs.” In a resolution published on Friday, the government said
the consortium would carry out deepening works and introduce technology aimed at improving navigation safety. Environmental organisations have warned that increasing the river’s navigable depth could alter the Paraná River’s natural dynamics and have challenged the tender process in court. Jan De Nul operated the waterway between 1995 and 2021 as part of a consortium with Argentine company Emepa. Since 2021, dredging, buoyage and signalling operations on the waterway, as well as toll collection, have been managed by the state through the General Ports Administration,
after the government of then-president Alberto Fernández decided not to renew the concession. The Main Navigable Waterway (Vía Navegable Troncal, VNT), commonly known as the Paraná-Paraguay waterway, is a river transport corridor stretching more than 1,500 kilometres and flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. Nearly 80 percent of Argentina’s exports, mainly agricultural products, pass through it. The route is crucial for exports of grains, oils and other agro-industrial products. It also serves as an export channel for goods from Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay, making it
a strategic trade corridor for the region. – TIMES/AFP
Argentina, Paraná-Paraguay waterway, Jan De Nul, Servimagnus SA, concession, dredging, logistics costs, General Ports Administration, environmental organizations, court challenge, Vía Navegable Troncal