●The much delayed dredging of the port’s 6.5 nautical mile access channel to a water depth of 32ft.The main reason for this is said to be a dispute that has broken out between the various bidders for this contract.

●The fact that the latest dredging undertaken in the River Plate has achieved a depth of 34ft and as such the port’s access channel and the port area itself are very out of sync with this draught resulting in the loss of available cargo cube.

●The loss, as a result of the latter factor, of some US$63.61m of cargo revenues per annum.

●The fact that no steps have been taken to modify the existing quays in Puerto Nuevo to allow dredging alongside to 34ft – their design depth remains at 32ft.

Patrick Campbell, secretary of the Argentine Chamber of Shipping, further points out that dredging works in the access channel should also be undertaken so as to widen it significantly.

Both MSC and the Chamber of Shipping highlight the point that while lines cannot utilise available cargo cube ironically they are being charged a toll by the dredging concessionaires,Hidrovias S.A.and Jan de Nul, corresponding to savings in dead freight capacity.