How Port of Açu can anticipate maneuver restrictions

The climate impacts all the aspects of port operations: from ship arrivals to loading and management of cargo. Extreme and even routinely climate events can cause port delays, which may cost millions of dollars per day, decreasing the port productivity and compromising the safety of people and assets.

The timing of the decision making is a key element for achieving the balance between safety and efficient operations. This is the case for the Port of Açu, the largest deep water port-industrial complex of Latin America.

Operating since 2014, the Port of Açu is the only fully private port of Brazil, being administered by Porto do Açu Operações in a partnership between Prumo Logística and Port of Antwerp International.

The port complex has the third largest terminal of iron ore in Brazil, accounts for 30% of Brazilian oil exports, houses what will be the largest thermal power park in Latin America, and has the largest offshore support base in the world. Currently, it is the third Brazilian port regarding cargo movements. And, since 2020 the operations of Port of Açu have been supported 24/7 by i4sea’s impact-based, hyper-local sea and weather forecasts.

A case study between May and December 2020 showed that i4cast® provides a 2-fold increase in decision-making assertiveness for the Port of Açu with respect to global and generic forecasts, in moments when environmental restrictions occur within the port area.

By analyzing each weather and sea parameter individually, i4cast®’s hyper-local forecasts also delivered significant gains as below:

• i4cast® was 25% more accurate than global forecasts for predicting wave heights.

• i4cast® was 12% more accurate than global forecasts for predicting winds.

• i4cast® was 23% more accurate than tide tables for predicting water levels.

.

“I trust i4sea. By using i4cast®’s hyper-local forecasts and actionable insights, the Port of Açu has significantly reduced the possibility of restrictions during operations in the port because of bad weather and ocean conditions. i4sea’s forecasts in Port of Açu are proven to be 2-fold more accurate than generic forecasts, with up to 94% accuracy on the decision making related to the impact of ocean and weather in our port operations.” Mario Rodrigues | Manager of maritime operations, Port of Açu.

With actionable, hyper-local forecasts, i4cast® enables you to anticipate sea and weather impacts on your business and therefore you can make safe, efficient decisions with no unforeseen surprises.

i4sea’s purpose is to enable companies and people at coastal areas to adapt to recurrent, volatile sea and weather conditions, so they can make proactive decisions and become more resilient towards our changing climate.