Port San Antonio Este
Historical antecedents
The
port of San Antonio Este was built by the National State and it was
put into operation in February of 1983 by the ex-General Administration
of Ports. At the beginning of 1990 it was transfered to the Province
of Río Negro, according to the Law 23.696 of reformation of the National
State by means of an agreement which took place between the Province
of Río Negro and the National Government. In April of 1997 the Provincial
Government calls to a competition of offers, through the system of "Private
Initiatives" (Law 2884/95) for the administration and exploitation
for concession. Starting from the administrative procedure, the Government
of Río Negro awards to the Terminal of Port Services Patagonia Norte
S.A. by the ordinance number 1396/97 of the provincial executive power.
It is ratified on December 23rd, 1997 by the provincial legislature
by the law 3154/97 previous verdict of the Examining Committee, the
State Office, the General Accounting Office and the Tribunal of Bills.
The possession of the concession is made on January 6th, 1998. The Port
Services Terminal Patagonia Norte is an anonymous society constituted
by 24 companies of the region related to production, industrialization
and external commercialization of fruits and vegetables (all of them
are important users of the port of San Antonio Este), associated with
a national stowing company of long trajectory in the port activity.
Location and emplacement
The
port of San Antonio Este is located on the north riverbank of Villarino's
peninsula in San Antonio's Bay, Gulf San Matías, Province of Río Negro,
at 60 Km. of the city of San Antonio Oeste and of a convergence of
routes that connect it with the whole country:
Route 3: with Viedma and Bahía Blanca towards the east.
Route 304: with Valle Medio, Alto Valle de Río Negro and Neuquén and of Mendoza.
Route 251: with General Conesa, Río Colorado, Bahía Blanca and the province of La Pampa.
Route 23: with Valcheta, Los Menucos, Maquinchao, Ingeniero Jacobacci and San Carlos de Bariloche.
Besides these road connections that link it with the rest of the country, it is at 30 Km. of Gral. Roca's railway that joins San Antonio Oeste with San Carlos de Bariloche, Viedma, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires and intermediate towns. From Bariloche it is connected with the Republic of Chile through Cardenal Samoré Pass (Puyehue). The airport of San Antonio Oeste constitutes another valid alternative to be considered in certain circumstances in operations of modal combination.
Its strategic location inside the Argentinian marine coast added to the infrastructure and equipment, make it a marine node as much when it is referred to the national coastal traffic or as overseas traffic; its location is exactly given in the parallel 40° 48' of south latitude and in the meridian 64° 52' of west longitude. Their marine limits are given by the straight line that joins the coordinates defined by the intersection of the coast with the parallel 41°06' 30" S and the meridian 64° 27' W. where are situated the geografical features Fuerte Argentino and Barranca Final.
It has got a direct exit to the Atlantic Ocean, with good depths although it has certain limitations. It is entered by a channel of natural access among the Reparo and Lobos Banks, that it has got only a 1 Km. of extension sector called "barra", with a restrictive of 27 feet, not having problems in the rest of the access. In the port area there is a natural depth pit and on foot of the jetty it is registered between 40 and 45 feet with tide to the local zero.
There are draught limitations near the Paliza Bank, because of this, ship entrances and exits are with high tide, the pattern of tides is of semi-diurnal type with day variations and the half period among high tides it is of nearly 12,5 hours, registering a maximum width of tide of 9,57 m and minimum of 6,73 m.; the yearly average tide is of 8,5 m.
The whole nautical access and the depths on foot of jetty are natural and they don't require of any maintenance. The defined course for the nautical maneuver of entrance to the port is carried out by means of, Pedro García Buoy - Juan de la Piedra Buoy with direction 32º 23', Reparo Buoy - Delgado Buoy with direction 1º 29' and Cangrejal Buoy - Camino Buoy with direction 23º 42'.
Bioceanic Corridor
Thanks
to its Atlantic-Pacific bioceanic condition and the proximity to the
Pampeana region, the Province of Río Negro is constituted in a geographical
area of excellence for the integration process outlined by the countries
of the MERCOSUR. The agreements with Chile, the progress reached in
the MERCOSUR and the infrastructure works that are being executed
in the region regarding the ground transport, rail transport and those
concerning services, allow the linking of the Pacific with the Atlantic
through the system of multimodal load where the infrastructure and
the strategic localization of Puerto de San Antonio Este place it
as a fundamental factor for the development, expansion and consolidation
of the bioceanic corridor.
Patagonia Norte and the quality
The Port Services Terminal Patagonia Norte S.A.
has recently become the first port of the Argentinean Patagonia
in receiving the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System certification:
granted by the RINA (Italian Navale Registry), Italian entity belonging
to the
This
certification embraces the administration of all processes of the
port services terminal, including: port services for the ships,
gather and storage of dry and refrigered loads, load and unload
to ship and truck, logistics of terrestrial transport, practicaje,
tow, moor and coast off. Being its quality politics: "To claim
the highest customer satisfaction by providing port services that
exceed their requirements and expectations by seeking continuous
improvements in the efficiency of its system of quality management
based on international standard ISO 9001:2000". The fact of
certifying according to the client's necessity makes sense with
the company values of team work above all. As initial step towards
the certification, the members of the ISO work team met during several
months guided by professionals of CONMAC consultant, to evaluate
each one of the processes of the terminal, to agree which was the
best way of doing them, then to edit them, assent and lastly to
respect them. For the members of the terminal, quality is a habit
that is daily practiced to assure the client's satisfaction. The
improvement of the quality involves all the activities, from the
form that a pallet is loaded to the relationships with clients,
the administration and management style, the human resources politics
and the projects with the community. Quality is the permanent attention
in search of the continuous improvement, in search of providing
excellence services that always satisfy and overcome the clients'
expectations and requirements. This way, according with the work
philosophy adopted by its managers and assumed by all its personnel,
the Port Services Terminal Patagonia Norte S.A. has certified its
Quality Management System in agreement with the international ISO
Norms 9001:2000.
Port Security
SAN ANTONIO ESTE leads in port security.
First Argentinean Port in certifying the International
Code for the protection of ships and port facilities (PBIP Code)
In a ceremony that was presided by the National Prefect, General Prefect Carlos Edgardo Fernández, accompanied by the Sub-secretary of Ports and Navigable Ways the architect Carlos Lisandro Salas, the Mayor Staff of the Prefecture and special guests, Patagonia Norte received at the hands of the Engineer Alberto Lacaze, President of the Terminal, the "Declaracion de Cumplimiento" of the port installation to the company PATAGONIA NORTE S.A. operator of the port installations San Antonio Este in the Province of Rio Negro.
The events in the U.S of September, 2001 unchained diverse actions in the most varied environments of human activity, since the terrorism and the different forms of illegal activity affect to the whole community, in particular, to the marine industry, one of the most global commercial activities of the world. Because of this, the marine nations of the world, gathered around the International Marine Organization (O.M.I.), elaborated after long processes, an instrument to the governments' disposition, the marine industry and the port operators, the International Code of Protection of Ships and Port Facilities (PBIP).
The PBIP Code is a group of norms and procedures in order to guarantee the protection of the marine transport, the ports and the load ships, of terrorist threats, illicit acts and related crimes.
Patagonia Norte S.A. has a serious commitment of strengthening the protection of its port facilities to prevent and suppress acts of terrorism that may attempt against the activity of the marine transport under its responsibility.
This commitment is part of a work philosophy, assumed by managers and personnel, in the path to the excellence taken by the Company since its beginnings, in 1998.
Leadership is not something new for this Company since it is the first and only port of the Patagonia with international certification of its Quality Management System, according to 9001 ISO Norms.
Highlighted innovations define the profile of Patagonia Norte S.A., placing it the vanguard of commercialization concepts and services for the export.
Related links
Prefectura Naval Argentina (Argentine Naval Prefecture)
Servicio de Hidrografía Naval Argentina (Navy Hydrographic Service)
Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera "Alte. Stonri" (Institute of Marine Biology and Fisheries Almirante Storni)
Mar-link.net (Argentine Maritime Search)