Transport charts new, improved course

Suriname is slowly but surely becoming an export-oriented economy, a key regional transit port where production is keeping pace with the rate of imports. The country’s intricate system of river and maritime transport provides the infrastructure that keeps the goods moving smoothly, and the Maritime Authority of Suriname, or MAS, makes sure that the whole process is carried out safely and efficiently.

Formally known as the Department of Shipping, MAS has been a private enterprise since 1998, supervising the shipping sector in close cooperation with the government and with N.V. Havenbeheer Suriname, the country’s port authority.

It does hydrographical work and aids navigation and piloting of ships through the country’s maze of rivers and pilots the ferries to and from the seaports, says MAS director Eddie Fitz-Jim, a seasoned master mariner who sailed the high seas for years before returning to Suriname in 1997 to work for MAS, which was still a department of the Transport, Communication and Tourism Ministry at the time.
He says MAS’s main objectives are to guarantee safe and efficient passage of ocean-going vessels to and from Suriname on the basis of internationally-accepted standards and regulations and in conformity with treaties ratified by Suriname.

MAS also sees to it that statutory provisions pertaining to shipping and maritime traffic are duly observed.
Like most of the major players in the industry, Mr. Fitz-Jim shares the view that Suriname has a genuine possibility of becoming a gateway to South America.
“But we can’t wait for it to come to us,” he warns. “We have to go and get it. We have to do certain things to try and gain such a function. It would be a real possibility to serve as a gateway to the interior of Brazil for instance with the traffic from the north coast of South America, from Africa and the Eastern regions. But if Suriname wants to gain these possibilities, it will have to fight for it.”
Mr. Fitz-Jim notes, however that some improvements will have to be made, like increasing the depth of the river mouth as it hinders big container vessels from entering the main ports.

John A. Defares, general manager of N.V. Havenbeheer Suriname, is convinced that Suriname has a competitive edge that can be used to make the Port of Paramaribo a transshipment point to Guyana, French Guyana and northern Brazil.
A good part of that leverage comes from a nearly US$20 million project with European Union funding that is currently being prepared for the modernization of the port. But first a study currently underway needs to be completed to determine future needs based on economic forecasts for both Suriname and the region over the next 20 or 30 years.
“We have to take certain things into account before we can modernize, expand the port and strengthen its organization,” Mr. Defares explains.

“For example, what do you do with the oil facilities? Are we going to import oil at current volumes, or will the state-owned company in two, three or four years’ time at the most develop itself to the extent that diesel–which comprises 80% of the imports–need not be imported anymore? Will the volume of the refinery be such that export accommodation will be needed here at the port? And given the implications of the future free trade agreement of the Americas, what will the needs of the port be then? What will the economic development of the country be like?” Mr. Defares asks.
Mr. M.A. Bilkerdijk, general manager of the SMS-Suriname Line shipping agency, agrees with the port authority chief concerning the need for port improvements and an extensive study.

“Policymaking and carrying out the underlying studies to ascertain the situation are the important things,” says Mr. Bilkerdijk. “It’s not enough to say ‘OK, let’s do it’. We must remember that Suriname could become very strategic in the region, as we have things the Caribbean doesn’t have. But we also need to take into consideration that we have problems, and if we want to attract big business and be competitive, we are going to have to do something about it. The volumes we are handling here are small in comparison with the big ports.”