Shipbuilding for Transport in Argentina
100 Years (1950 – 2050)
Ing. Raúl E. Podetti
Ing. Carlos M. Brañas
Brañas and Podetti provide their vision as protagonists of this marine segment. Their experience as designers, repairers, shipbuilders and businessmen allows them to bring a retrospective and prospective sight of this activity.
Following the structure of the rest of the publications, this research is divided into four parts: History, Industry, Politics and Future. The first three refer to the most relevant aspects of this activity in the last 70 years (1950 – 2020), with an emphasis on the most recent ones.
The final part takes the basis of the first three and goes over a series of proposals and future impactful projections for the next three decades, therefore completing the century suggested on the thesis.
The work will include a revision and an insight on the historical, industrial and political analysis presented in Argentine Shipbuilding Industry – 100 Years (1937 – 2036) in relation to the transport segment.
There will be a detailed timeline of the activity to help identify the cause-effect relations between politics and development. Among others, the following studies will be included:
- Regulatory scheme, main players of the industry and role of the State
- Characteristics and politics of the national water transport system compared to that of other nations.
- Evaluation and dynamics of the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway and the relationship with shipyards.
- Formulation of a transport vessel operating in the region (national and imports) database
- Owner vision towards the acquisition of a new ship
Using the same naval vector methodology as on other publications of this Collection, the book will quantify the economic, social and environmental impacts in future scenarios. The soy and Antarctic logistics, together with the impact of LNG in the national water transportation are of particular interest.
This way, after detailing the main necessary measures needed to achieve harmony (Politics), the last chapter of the book (Future) will take place, forecasting the activity for the next 30 years and identifying financial needs as well as others.
There will also be a consideration about future upcomings – technological and others – on the search for outdoing the changes that will inevitably reach the segment in order to reinvent itself and continue its competitivity.
This publication will be a contribution to the PIUBAD Vector Project, in which both authors contribute as researchers. It will also contribute to the Institute of Transport of the National Engineering Academy, in which Brañas actively participates.
In development

This research was carried out by Ing. Raúl E. Podetti with the collaboration of Ing. Carlos M. Brañas
Carlos M. Brañas
He was born in Buenos Aires in 1954 and got a degree in Nval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Buenos Aires. He started as an intern in Astarsa shipyards in 1973 and later graduated from the Argentine Navy as a scientific investigator.
He worked at the Nickman Group – a prestigious international marine engineering company that works with surveys – and since 1983 he has been working at an international shipping company designing, repairing, and developing management programs for large ship conversion projects abroad. In 1990 he founded Consulmar, a marine consulting agency very well-known in Argentina and worldwide.
He is a representative of Argentina at the Panamerican Institute of Marine Engineering (IPIN). He is also President of the Argentine Association of Marine Engineering (AAIN) and a member of the Institute of Transport at the National Engineering Academy and member of the Advising Committee of Shipbuilding Industry (law 27,418). Besides this, Brañas is a representative before the Administrative Technical Advisory Council of the Argentine Coast Guard (PNA)

