Wilson Sons’ towage business is celebrating five years of successful operations at Açu Port, one of the largest port-industry complexes in Brazil, located in the North Fluminense region of Rio de Janeiro.

Wilson Sons has been operating in the region since 2014, and signed the contract with Acu Port Authority in 2016 to provide towage services for the export of iron ore through the port.

“We even participated in operations that brought materials and equipment for the construction of the port complex”, commented Marcio Castro, Executive Director of the Towage unit.

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 “The efficiency, safety and growth of our partners and customers is the main focus of Wilson Sons’ work. A striking example of this is that we built two escort tugs designed for the specific needs of operations at Açu Complex. This contributed to the manoeuvres being carried out with the effectiveness that the port needed”, recalls Castro.

Today, the Company has eight high-power tugboats at Açu, three of which are certified for firefighting – FiFi1. All are able to perform manoeuvres in entry and exit operations of ships of panamax, aframax, capezise, suezmax, VLCC and LNG carrier type, in ballast and loaded.

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 “It is with great satisfaction that we celebrate these years together with Wilson Sons. We work in partnership with a high level of availability and reliability in port operations”, highlights Vinícius Patel, director of Port Administration at Açu Port Operations.

The year 2021 also marked the five-year partnership with Açu Petroleo, a company that has been operating the oil terminal (T-OIL) at Açu Port since 2016. In addition, Wilson Sons Towage supports the manoeuvres of gas carriers to transfer liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the regasification terminal that supplies the GNA’s thermoelectric plant.

The use of technology at Wilson Sons’ Towage Operations Centre (COR), which completed a decade of operation in 2021, was a successful case for the implementation of the Açu Port Operations and Emergency Response Centre. Both use VTS (Vessel Traffic Service) functionality through AIS (Automatic Identification System) antennas for real-time monitoring, 24 hours a day, of vessels at the terminals.

Wilson Sons has also been carrying out tests in Açu Port of the unprecedented technology for monitoring the seabed developed by the Israeli start-up DockTech.  “The investment is part of our strategy to promote innovation and the development of national port and shipping infrastructure”, said Castro.

For Açu Port, the innovation agenda is also a priority. “We continue together with Wilson Sons, promoting sustainability, technological development and innovation actions to strengthen our sector in Brazil, being a reference in the actions we have at Açu, including internationally”, emphasizes Patel.

With a fleet of 80 tugboats, the largest in Brazil, Wilson Sons is present in 25 locations, covering almost the entire Brazilian coast.