Ports dredging licensing process. A case study in two Brazilian ports: Porto de Santos and Porto de Paranaguá

Access canals to ports are one of the most important constraints to maritime commodities transportation, due to the water dynamic that allows material to be deposited, limiting their depths and compromising the traffic safety. Hence, dredging services have to be performed. To limit the associated environmental damages, these services have to be licensed by competent authorities, a long process due to the complexity of the needed studies. The objective of this work is to present the licensing process applied in Brazil for these services and the benefits achieved in two major Brazilian ports: Porto de Santos and Porto de Paranaguá.