Last Tuesday (02), LENEP - Laboratory of Oil and Gas Engineering and Exploration) had a very busy afternoon with the Conference on Logistics promoted by Macaé International Chamber of Commerce (CaCIM), having its conference room crowded with logistic experts.

As lecturers, the meeting had the presence of Mr. Jorge Henrique Barbosa de Souza, Federal Revenue Inspector in Macaé; Mr. Edgar Aragão Martins, Chief Substitute of DIANA (Customs Division); Mr. Bruno Bancovsky, Vice-president of Macaétur; Brigadier Ananias Pinto Manhães, Superintendent of Macaé International Airport (INFRAERO); Mr. Antônio Eduardo Pinheiro, Manager of Galáxia Marítima; Benjamin Wright, Administrative Manager of Cooper T. Smith in Brazil and Mr. Francisco Antônio da Silva, Superintendent of Transport Products of Bradesco Seguros. The lecturers debated on aerial, marine, and terrestrial logistics in Macaé city, with an eye to the future.

As far as aerial logistics is concerned, Brigadier Ananias Manhães presented the numbers relative to the expansion project of Macaé International Airport. After this expansion, the airport will have the capacity to serve 450,000 passengers a year against the actual number of 135,000 passengers a year. It will also have a second runway, which will be 1,800 meters long, with the capacity to receive aircrafts as big as a Boeing 737.

The culminating point was the speech of the Federal Revenue representatives, Mr. Jorge Henrique Souza and Mr. Edgar Martins. The former, Mr. Jorge Henrique stated that Macaé is progressively losing markets to other centers, regarding the acquisition of platform-oriented goods. He is willing to talk with businessmen in order to figure out the reasons for this scenario, since services such as Express Clearance (Desembaraço Expresso), Blue Line (Linha Azul), and special regimes of exportation direct from exporters have never been asked to Federal Revenue offices and still they are available.

The latter, Mr. Edgar Martins, is in favour of the creation of a Dry Port (previously called EADI -Estação Aduaneira Interior) in Macaé. He considers this of paramount importance to the logistic development of our region. According to him, the purpose of a Dry Port is to reduce the volume of cargo at busy primary customs zones (ports and airports) and to bring customs clearance closer to production zones. One of the advantages is the reduction of cargo storage costs, because this cost is usually very high in primary zones. Regarding the installation of a Dry Port in the municipality of Macaé, the invitation to bid is expected to be announced this year.

Later on, Mr. Benjamin Wright showed excellent photos of Port Fourchon, in the delta of Mississipi, in Louisiana, United States. It is a low-cost port, which is responsible for 80% of Mexican Gulf offshore maintenance and support services. In this port, a vessel is treated like a Formula One machine in its pit stop: she maneuvers backwards and stops in a covered area, and is loaded with the cargo brought by trucks, with the help of conveyor belts and cranes. In the meantime, the vessel gets a supply of fuel and water. The technology of this port allows the team to service the vessel in 4 or 5 hours, instead of some 48 hours in the past.

Congratulations to CaCIM, as the promoter of an event of great importance to our region! Congratulations to LENEP, for its irreproachable multimedia facility!

Source: Marisol Mandarino