Safety regulations changes on Parana River will slash boat toll rates, says chamber head

The Argentine Government's announced changes to transit safety measures on the Parana River will significantly reduce toll rates for grain cargo ships, Guillermo Wade, head of the CAPyM chamber, told Reuters.

Argentina, a major global grains exporter, uses the Parana River transport corridor to send 80 per cent of the country's agricultural exports to the world.

However, the impact of loosening the safety margin under the keel for ships will only become noticeable when a tender to deepen dredging of the waterway is awarded, Wade added.

"The modification of the under-keel repayment is very timely, that can be applied to the new dredging tender, since it will significantly reduce the toll rates," Wade said in a message sent to Reuters late on Monday.

The announcement of the loosening of safety regulations for Parana came a few days after a tender to dredge the Parana River fell apart amid allegations of sabotage of the process.

The Argentine Government said a new tender would be held, but did not give precise dates for it.

In the resolution published Tuesday in the Argentine Official Gazette, the government said the change in the safety margin aims to, "accompany the evolution of future deepening and beaconing work in the navigation channels, as well as, remodeling and/or expansions of the existing work."

(Report by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Hugh Lawson)