【Port】Drop in water level of the Amazon River

As the Amazon river falls to historically low levels, impacting vessel's navigation of the river.

Because of this situation, the River Captaincy of the Western Amazon (CFAOC) issued Ordinance 151/CFAOC providing guidance and recommendations to vessels navigating critical stretches of the Amazon River. This guidance is available only in Portugues, Brazil P&I correspondents Proinde explains as follows;

• Navigation between the Tabocal Passage and the mouth of the Madeira River (near Itacoatiara) should only occur during daylight hours when the local depth, in meters, is less than or equal to 1.5 times the ship’s draft at minimum speed to maintain the manoeuvrability;
• The minimum under-keel clearance (UKC) to be observed is 0.5 m (half a metre) for general cargo vessels and 1 m (one metre) for vessels carrying dangerous or potentially highly polluting goods. Safety factors should be added to these values ​​to establish the UKC required for safe navigation in a critical area at any given time.

The outlook for the coming weeks is not promising, as the rivers should remain at low levels until late October at best, with some experts predicting that the drought may persist well into the next year.

When navigating in these waters, it is recommended to obtain the latest information on depth and draft restrictions from the charterer, local agent, pilot, etc.

Please refer below link.

Maritime authority guidance to ships amid Amazon’s hardest drought