MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina agrees to dredge a River Plate access canal, crucial for Uruguayan ports

Improved relations between Cristina Fernandez and Jose Mujica opened the way for the major undertaking

Uruguay and Argentina approved this week conditions to begin dredging the River Plate Martin Garcia access channel, an ongoing dispute of over ten years that seriously constrained Uruguay’s ports development, according to reports in the Montevideo media.

Representatives from Uruguay and Argentina approved conditions for the tender in the framework of the Administrative Committee of the River Plate, CARP, which is responsible for the joint management of the River Plate including its access channels.

The dispute is centred in the two main access channels in the treacherous River Plate.

Channel Mitre leads directly to the port of Buenos Aires and the powerful lobby of that terminal which includes maritime agents and unions has always tried to downplay the importance of Montevideo and the Martin Garcia channel which runs closer to the Uruguayan coast.

Martin García is also the natural access to the River Uruguay, jointly shared by the neighbouring countries and to the fluvial ports on the Uruguayan shore of the River Plate.

This is particularly crucial for the port of Nueva Palmira, close to the heartland of Uruguay’s grains and oilseeds belt, which has become the country’s main port for this kind of cargo.

The Martin Garcia access channel is also closely linked to the pulp mills dispute between Argentina and Uruguay, which only found a way out, after eight years, in 2010, when Presidents Cristina Fernandez and Jose Mujica agreed on a thirty-point agenda and a timetable for its implementation.

The dredging of the Martin Garcia has been delayed for over ten years which means vessels operating from Nueva Palmira can only partially load given the lack of draught.

Since the Botnia-UPM pulp mill questioned by Argentina, loads at Nueva Palmira, the Martin Garcia channel dredging had an additional hurdle.

The big question now, which has not been revealed, is how deep the access-channel to Nueva Palmira will be dredged. This is crucial since the port of Buenos Aires has always insisted that Martin Garcia must not compete with the Mitre access-channel.

“This issue as others related to the River Plate which have been addressed by the presidents will mean benefits for both sides”, and will “rapidly turn into economic and development benefits”.