Santos Brasil invests R$ 7 million in its Vila do Conde Terminal
21/09/2011
Santos Brasil will invest up to R$7 million in Tecon Vila do
Conde (Pará) by the end of the year. This figure includes the
expansion of the yard to more than 30,000 m2, the
acquisition of stackers and weighing machines and the opening of
two more entry and exit gates, as well as personnel training. It is
a strategic region for Santos Brasil due to its proximity to
international sea routes and access to all continents, either
directly or through the Caribbean hub ports.
According to Andre Quirino, head of Tecon Vila do Conde, the
terminal has been improving its expertise with cargo used by large
companies in the region. "The upgrading of equipment and
improvements to the yard have expanded our ability to handle
large-scale machinery used in industrial plants and mining."
Santos Brasil, which also operates container terminals in Santos
and Santa Catarina, and is a benchmark for this kind of operation,
has not only increased the handling of non-containerized cargo for
specific projects, but also aims to expand its share of the
cabotage segment in Vila do Conde. "We believe the region's
cabotage potential is enormous. We are located in the Industrial
and Port Complex in Vila do Conde, 96 km from Belém, at the center
of the main trade routes with access to other regions of the
country," explained Quirino. For Santos Brasil, the expansion of
cabotage in the Brazilian cargo transportation sector will increase
competitiveness and help the environment. According to specialists
in the area, the waterway modal is responsible for only 4% of
CO2 emissions produced by the segment.
Tecon Vila do Conde has a current operating capacity of 150,000
TEUs (one TEU is equivalent to a 20-foot container), and is
expected to reach 200,000 TEUs by 2012. It is the first container
terminal and warehousing facility for public use operated by a
private company in the state of Pará. It is also the
only one in the region with two 100 tonne mobile harbor cranes with
a handling capacity of 25 containers per hour. The terminal's cold
storage room for the inspection of refrigerated cargo has doors
that allow the admission of up to four stacked containers, and also
represents a huge innovation for the port sector in the North of
the country.
