Posted on July 15, 2026
By Maria Heloisa Barbosa Borges
A true floating city of steel is on its way to the coast of Santa Catarina. The giant dredger Galileo Galilei, one of the largest vessels of its kind operating in Brazil, has been assigned to transform Gravatá Beach in Navegantes, on the Northern Coast of Santa Catarina. According to the portal NSC Total, the ship is expected to arrive in the state later this week to begin work.
The mission is ambitious: to widen by up to 70 meters a strip of sand that is currently almost nonexistent in some sections. For this, the operation will cost R$ 31.5 million, operate non-stop 24 hours a day, and keep the beach completely closed to the public, a radical change in the routine of residents and tourists in the region.
The protagonist of this project is the giant dredger Galileo Galilei, operated by the Belgian company Jan de Nul, considered one of the largest maritime engineering companies in the world. The vessel is expected to arrive in the waters of Santa Catarina later this week to begin the widening of Gravatá Beach.
This is not the first time the ship has appeared here. The same dredger has already worked on the expansion of Central Beach in Balneário Camboriú and the opening of a new navigation route accessing the Port of São Francisco do Sul, making it a familiar presence in major projects on the coast of Santa Catarina.
The schedule is tight. According to the city hall of Navegantes, the dredging operation is scheduled to start between Wednesday, the 15th, and Thursday, the 16th of July 2026, as soon as the vessel is positioned and the support structure is completed. From there, the race to rebuild the sand strip begins.
