A consortium formed by Sinohydro and Construccion y Administracion SA of Peru has signed a concession contract with the Peruvian Ministry of Transport and Communications for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the Amazon Waterway (Hidrovia Amazonica) PPP project.

The Amazon Waterway project will total approximately US$95 million in investment. It will improve the navigability conditions of the rivers of the Peruvian Amazon (Huallaga, Maranon, Ucayali and Amazonas) for the transportation of both passengers and cargo, and should boost both regional and national trade.

Sinohydro is a subsidiary of part of the PowerChina Group. It can provide clients with project consultancy, financing, survey, design and engineering, construction and operational service. The company currently has 524 international projects in more than 74 countries.

The Concesionaria Hidrovia Amazonica consortium recently signed the concession contract in a ceremony at the Port of Yurimaguas, Loreto region. The event was attended by the mayor of Alto Amazonas province (Loreto), deputy minister of transport of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Edwer Tuesta, and diplomatic delegations from China and Ecuador.

“The Waterway will connect three regions (Loreto, San Martín and Ucayali), and will unite five main cities in the Amazon (Saramiriza, Yurimaguas, Pucallpa, Iquitos and Santa Rosa) improving the interconnectivity of cargo and trade,” says deputy minister of transport of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Rafael Guarderas.

The fluvial system is the main means of transit (more than 90% of passengers and cargo) in the Amazon region of Peru and the project will strengthen the navigation system, enabling the region's economic development. Navigation conditions are currently inefficient and unsafe, and during the dry season between July and October the flow of rivers is reduced by forming sandbanks.

The PPP concession operators will provide a navigation channel with widths and depths set out in the contract. Information for navigation will be provided by means of digital information on the channel's position, which can be loaded onto a GPS.