Bahia Blanca - History

When the national government decides on the foundation of the "Fortaleza Protectora Argentina", the origin of the city of Bahía Blanca, it sends by sea the greatest bulk of building materials which would be used in the construction of the fort and the designed village. Thus, in March 1825, receding the army and colonists, the schooner Lousie moors in the gorges of the bay with its shipment of building materials. Sailors had already set foot on the desertic saltpetre fields of the white bay. They are a symbol. The future greatness of this far away south began in the sea and goes on in the sea.

The development of the port facilities starts as a tenancy granted by the national government to the Great Southern Railway Company, to set up a port in the Bahía Blanca area. The work was initiated in 1883 and the pier was opened on September 26th, 1885. This date is also considered as the foundation of the port location of Ing. White.

This first facility, a solely iron construction, was a curved pier where only three ocean-going vessels and the same number of coastal traffic ones could moor. Nevertheless, its traffic capacity increased amazingly, surpassing by 1900 the two hundred thousand million tonnes, of which a million approximately constituted exported grain.

This sudden growth led to the setting up of new facilities. Between 1902 and 1904 a higher crown level wharf was built and the enlargement of the iron one was finished giving rise to the well-known T-shaped Iron Pier which has identified the port during this present century.

In 1908 the Grain Elevators Nº 1 & 2 started operating, which together with the above mentioned ones made up the central core of Ing. White.

As the port of Ing. White, belonging to the Great Southern Railway Company, was growing, the development of another port, located a few kilometers from the estuary of Bahía Blanca, started. It was Puerto Galván at the mouth of the brook with the same name. It was built by the Bs. As. & Pacific Railway Company to allow the direct exports of the production of the area.

The later evolution of the port goes on during the twenties with the beginning of the Break Bulk Pier and; the building, between 1925 and 1933, of the Central Elevator housing berths 5/6 and 7/8, and Elevator Nº 3 with a storage capacity of 142,000 tonnes.

During the sixties a considerable qualitative improvement of the port occurs. Under the control of the Ports General Administration and the National Grain Board, the setting up of berth 9 and Elevator Nº 5 take place. The dredging of the access channel, completed at the end of the decade by the National Direction of Port Works and Waterways, turns Bahía Blanca into the deepest port of the country, allowing the operation of 40' draught ships.

Between 1971 and 1972 a 40' draught pier for the loading of flammable liquids and gases was built in Puerto Galván with two mooring berths, providing greater safety to the carrying out of port operations since it concentrates the manipulation of fuel in an adjacent area.

During the eighties the Power Station Luis Piedra Buena adds a new pier to the port. The pier had originally been built for the unloading of coal and fuel-oil, but it was later adapted to load grain, starting its operations in 1986.

At the end of the decade another qualitative improvement in the growth of the port takes place. Again, it has to do with an increase in the depth of the access channel and port through dredging operations approved by the national government between 1989 and 1992. Fifty million cubic meters of soil were dredged at a cost of approximately two hundred million dollars, allowing the progress of 45' draught vessels.

This outstanding port engineering development changes the port into the first deep waters port of the country for its depth and the privileged location of the railway network with regard to the production and consumption areas of our territory.

The greater depth of the access channel provides commercial opportunities which are already evident in the private investment already carried out. In 1993 a new terminal facility for the loading of grain and other by-products was built. The already existent ones have enlarged their storing, reception and loading capacity with millionaire investments.

These investments together with the new development opportunities offered by the area known as "Cangrejales" open a new future perspective to the Port of Bahía Blanca. This area is located between the Ports of Ing. White and Galván with a 1,800 m. coastline and an available area of 140 acres of marshland.