Barcarena, Pará

Barcarena
Municipality
Flag Seal
Location in Pará
Barcarena Location in Brazil
Coordinates: 01°30′21″S 48°37′33″W / 1.50583°S 48.62583°W / -1.50583; -48.62583Coordinates: 01°30′21″S 48°37′33″W / 1.50583°S 48.62583°W / -1.50583; -48.62583
Country	Brazil
Region	Northern
State	Pará
Mesoregion	Belém
Microregion	Belém
Cont. inhabited	Prior to Portuguese rule[1]
Freguesia	1758
Incorporated (municipality)	May 10, 1897 [1]
Government
• Mayor	Antônio Carlos Vilaça
Area[2]
• Total	1,310.588 km2 (506.021 sq mi)
Elevation	15 m (49 ft)
Population (2017)[3]
• Total	121,190
Time zone	UTC-3 (BRT)
CEP postal code	68445-000
Area code	91
Website	barcarena.pa.gov.br

Barcarena is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pará adjacent the Tocantins River. It has a population of 102,015 and is part of the Belém metropolitan area.^[4] The city's economy relies largely on agriculture and bauxite. There are also facilities for pig iron nearby.^[5] They city and port is developing as a major transshipping port that takes goods for international export linked by rail from nearby inland ports, from all over Brazil, speeding up shipment and reducing time and costs as opposed to traditional megaports in the Southeast.

History

The town was originally inhabited by the Aruá Indians. In 1709 Jesuits came.

Shipping accident 2015

On October 6, 2015 the livestock vessel "MV Haidar" capsized in the Vila do Conde port due to an unsuccessful turning maneuver. It had 4,900 live cattle and almost 700 metric tonnes of oil on board.^[6][7] 4,400 cattle drowned while locked in the ship's cargo area. About 500 animals could free themselves, but only about 100 survived the accident. Fuel and oil seeped from the wreck into the water and contaminated the Pará river and surrounding beaches, which deprived many local fisher families of their livelihood.^[8] Since the removal of the oil slick proved to be complicated, and no consensus regarding responsibility and suitable cleanup efforts could be reached, hundreds of carcasses rotted at the beach and inside the shipwreck for months – a huge burden on the fishery and tourism of the region. The competent Federal Ministry estimated the damage to the residents to be 71 million reais (about 21 million US$). By July 2016 nothing had been paid out yet.^[9][10][11]

References