The Administrative Commission of the River Plate (CARP) and Jan De Nul have signed a contract for the dredging operations, maintenance, widening and potential improvement works on the Martín García Channel.
According to CARP, the contract will be valid for five years, with the option to extend it for an additional five-year period, and will allow for the maintenance of the channel’s navigability, as well as the execution of works aimed at expanding its operational capacity.
The signing of this deal marks the conclusion of the bidding process and enables the start of a new phase of work that, in addition to maintenance dredging, includes widening the channel and the possibility of incorporating future improvements of the waterway, CARP said.
Background
On June 12, the Technical Evaluation stage of the Tender was concluded, which ensures the navigability conditions and the development of strategic improvements for the waterway, and provides for a contractual term of five years, with an option to extend for another five additional years.
At that stage, through CARP Resolution No. 14/26, Jan De Nul and Boskalis International Uruguay S.A. were declared Qualified Bidders.
A couple of weeks after, the Economic Offers of both companies were opened for the execution of the contract for an initial term of 5 years, resulting in:
- Offer No. 1 – Jan De Nul – in the amount of $65.994.000, and
- Offer No. 3 – Boskalis International Uruguay S.A. – in the amount of $149.279.315.
As a result of the aforementioned process, CARP issued Resolution No. 17/26, declaring the offer submitted by Jan De Nul to be the most advantageous.
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.
