The Regional Autonomous Corporation of the Río Grande de la Magdalena (Cormagdalena) and Findeter awarded this Thursday the contract to build their own dredge to serve the maintenance tasks of the Magdalena River.
The CRCC Dracoma Consortium, made up of the companies China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, Sucursal Colombia, and CRCC Harbor & Channel Engineering Bureau Group Co, Ltd, will be in charge of building and delivering the equipment within a period of four to six months.
The Cormagdalena 2 Dredge, as the new vessel will be called, will have an extraction capacity of 600 cubic meters per hour, a maximum dredging depth between 13 and 15 meters, and a discharge distance of 500 meters of pipe, among other technical specifications.
According to Cormagdalena, this dredge project – which will be responsible for preserving navigability on the Magdalena River – contemplates an estimated investment of $26 billion and will be operated in this tributary, mainly between the municipalities of Barrancabermeja, Santander and Barranquilla, in Atlantic.
It should be remembered that it is the second dredge that the Government acquires, after the purchase of “Cormagdalena 1” in 2010, which currently operates in critical sectors for navigation.
“With this purchase, framed in one of the four strategic lines that guide the maintenance and conservation of the navigable conditions of the River, the river movement of cargo and passengers will be guaranteed, generating great benefits for the country in terms of economic and social development” , explained Álvaro Redondo, general director of Cormagdalena.
The official maintained that “this acquisition represents a substantial saving in the fiscal efforts that the country makes to carry out the dredging work through leasing, if it is taken into account that the recovery of the invested capital is projected within a maximum of 2 or 3 years, and From now on, the costs of operation and maintenance of the dredge would not exceed 20 or 30% of its value annually.”
The entity pointed out that the newly acquired dredge, like the Cormagdalena 1, is equipment that is designed to withstand and maneuver in the currents of the Magdalena River.
In addition, its operation will be carried out by specialized personnel hired by Cormagdalena and will have all its operating requirements such as patents, permits and insurance.
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