August 20th – SE South America Drought

August 20th 2020

SE South America drought

In view of the ongoing developing situation and different communications and instructions being issued by Sanitary Authorities of the Argentine Government we have chosen to send a consolidated daily report at the closing of working hours with an update of the day’s news.

National Holidays: Next National Holiday, Monday, October 12th.

ANTARES: We attach to this News a flyer with the full detail of all our staff for your ready reference. Both for our office in Buenos Aires and for San Lorenzo (Upriver).

Week end duty staff: (Friday noon, August 21st until Monday 0800 hrs, August 24th)

* HQ Buenos Aires:

Horacio Vazquez +54 9 11 5578 4554

Ruben Carlos Stella +54 9 11 5578 4552

Malcolm Dickson +54 9 11 5578 4558

* Upriver:

Walter Travaglini +54 9 11 3156 1680

Sebastián Ferrara +54 9 11 3156 1679

Franco Ostojic +54 9 11 3156 1678

Left handed/Anti clockwise Propellers: The San Lorenzo Coast Guard has issued a directive that as from now all vessels with left hand/anti clockwise turning propellers will have to be assisted on departure by a tug. The logic behind this is that as all berths are on the port side of the River Parana, and upon departure any engine astern maneuvers will cause the vessel to fall to port side and endanger the maneuver. Vessels with bow thrusters of adequate horsepower are excepted.

SE South America drought: The drought we are suffering not only affects the draft for vessels at Upriver. The low water level has dried out the marshy eastern shore of the Parana. These pictures were taken of fires which have been raging in front of San Lorenzo and Rosario and in fact are now covering the whole “opposite” margin of the River Parana from Paraguay down nearly as far as Buenos Aires. Other than the obvious damage to the eco-system the smoke is also causing severe dis-comfort to the whole Upriver area and cities such as Rosario, San Lorenzo and San Nicolas, badly affecting the air quality.

SE South America drought.

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New dredger: SPI, local shipyard are to invest in the construction of a suction dredger to operate in all, much needed shallow waters in Argentina. It will surely not be short of work! This is and investment of about USD 1.5 million.
Proyecto de la draga que construirá SPI Astilleros

New dredger.

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Discharge of Scrubbers in Argentina: A regulation was issued by the Argentine CoastGuard (PNA) that forbids the discharge of washing waters from scrubbers of National and Foreign vessels in Argentine waters detailed as:
*Internal Jurisdictional Waters (including River Parana, River Uruguay and River Plate)

*Territorial Waters (12 mile limit)

*Extended Territorial waters (24 mile limit)

*Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone (200 mile limit)

In order that the limits be properly explained we attach below a map, issued by the Government which explains the contour of the area covered by the regulation which colored light blue.

Scrubbers in Argentina.

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Special care will have to be taken by vessels transiting the area, especially those on the open sea when proceeding southbound from Recalada to the Pacific and vice versa.

Export licenses: Licenses were issued today for 99,000 metric tons of maize, 37,500 metric tons of soyameal, 31,000 metric tons of flint maize and 24,000 metric tons of feed barley.

Crew changes Uruguay: On and Off signing crew are allowed entry into the country under very strict restrictions. On signers must have a prior negative Covid 19 test 72 hours prior being allowed entry. Crew members boarding are not allowed to stop at any stage between landing at the airport (Montevideo) and boarding the vessel. Once onboard the vessel they must comply with a 14 day quarantine onboard before being allowed to work. Departing crew must proceed directly from the vessel to the airport. Considering that there are at the moment few international flights these requirements make it very difficult for crew members to enter or leave the country. Additionally to this before a boarding crew member is allowed permit of entry the agreement of Sanitary Authority, Immigration and CoastGuard must be obtained.
The best way of achieving a successful crew change at Uruguay is to have the vessel do this OUTBOUND at Recalada/Montevideo anchorage when the vessel’s schedule is not bound so much by weather and port congestions.

San Lorenzo: Cargill Quebracho berth is closed for maintenance until August 23rd.

Arroyo Seco-Lagos/Dreyfus berths: The CoastGuard have issued a regulation, valid as from August 06th, that the maximum sailing draft for both Dreyfus berths, Dry and Liquid, is to be calculated according to the following formula: 9.20 meters Depth Plus Average River level of Rosario and Villa Constitución Minus 0.60 meters under keel clearance.
For today, August 20th it is: 9.28 meters (30 feet 05 inches FW)

Recalada: Recalada closes often due to swell, fog and high winds.

Necochea: The port remains closed since August 18th at 1810 hours due to swell and high winds.

Bahia Blanca: Pilotage service is suspended for short periods time due to bad weather.

Bahia Blanca is imposing a 14 day quarantine on arriving vessels. This quarantine can be excepted if the terminal where the vessel will load produces proof that an earlier berthing is required. Also an agreement with the stevedores union that adequate precautionary measures will be taken to satisfy the workers attending onboard so as to avoid contagion.

Will keep you posted.

Best regards,
Antares Servicios Maritimos S.A.

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