Uruguay ? Brazil Inland Waterway Transportation System Defining the Right Vessel

Within the frame of the MERCOSUR (South Common Market), one of the most important goals to achieve by its member states is a better cost effective international cargo transportation system. For this purpose the project of developing a commercial waterway linking the east region of Uruguay with the south of Brazil has been under study for a number of years now. Because of the high costs involved on the development of such waterway, the project has been indefinitely delayed. It is our intention to show an alternative way to reduce the present obstacles by using a budget oriented approach in order to determine the vessel best suited to use on the proposed waterway. So far, every study related to the project has been focused on the amount of work needed to modify the environment in order to accommodate the hardware already available in the region. The conclusions show that the cost of opening and maintaining the required navigation channel is high enough to discourage investment; the added responsibility to take care of any environmental damage incurred during the building and/or operation of the waterway makes searching for a less costly and hazardous option an interesting challenge. The proposed terminal on the Cebollat? River would be located at the heart of the Uruguayan rice growing region. Uruguay exports 90% of its rice production, being Brazil its biggest buyer. Wood chips and clinker are the other types of cargo considered to use the proposed waterway in route to either Brazil or to overseas destinations through the deep water port of Rio Grande. Through the analysis of local data by a Geographical Information System, international regulations regarding inland waterways and shallow draught vessel characteristics, we seek to propose a cost efficient alternative to apply on this particular scenario.