Draft emergency declared in Colombia port

Alejandro Char Chaljub claimed he had done this to ensure that the necessary resources could then be sought from the national government to ensure the continuation of both deep-sea and inland waterway traffic.

The district council for managing Barranquilla disaster risk is in the process of drawing up an action plan to ensure a return to normal as soon as possible.

Dockworkers have long lobbied for something to be done to address the situation, which requires resources to be released to finance the necessary dredging work to ensure a draft of at least 10 metres is available in the access channel.

Barranquilla is an important industrial hub and any disruption to the port has serious knock-on problems with production and export.

Currently, vessels wishing to dock at the port have to lighten their load beforehand.