The Port Authority of Santander (APS) awarded the company Ciomar, S.L. the dredging works for the navigation channel from Punta Rabiosa to Somo, for an amount of 1,678,635 euros (1,933,922 dollars).
The works will consist of carrying out the task to leave the waterway at the minimum operating level of -1.5 meters, relative to the port’s zero level.
The maintenance dredging will be carried out over five campaigns, each with a planned volume not exceeding 20,000 m3, in which different sections of the channel will be addressed, depending on the current situation.
The operations will be performed with a mixed grab and trailing suction hopper dredger, which absorbs water and the sand it puts into suspension, “thus minimizing the generation of turbidity,” as Díaz reported.
The president of the APS, César Díaz, explained that the work is necessary to “maintain, on one hand, an adequate draft for navigability in the channel and to collaborate, on the other, in the conservation of the current equilibrium of the bay in the long term.”
“This coming December we will begin the first annual dredging campaign with a volume of 20,000 m3, while the second is planned for early 2026,” detailed Díaz.
The measure, which was already included in the APS’s plans, is one of the actions proposed by the IHCantabria study to ensure the sustainability of the bay.
The head of the APS emphasized that “we will continue to work in line with the recommendations of the IH to maintain this equilibrium in the long term. It is one of our main objectives, along with offering optimal navigation with the maximum possible draft for the safe access of vessels to the docks and the correct functioning of port operations.”
“From the APS we will continue to do everything in our power to reconcile our responsibility as the driving force of the Cantabria industry, generating 14% of the GDP and 11% of the region’s employment, with the utmost respect for the conservation of the Bay,” emphasized the president of the entity.
