Steam Navigation in Santa Catarina and the accomplishments of the "Companhia de Navegação Fluvial a Vapor Itajahy-Blumenau"

Abstract

The objective of this text is to analyze the performance of the fluvial navigation in the state of Santa Catarina in the last quarter of the XIXth century until half of the XXth. After a brief panorama on the Brazilian fluvial navigation, the text pay special attention to the navigation in the Itajaí-Açu River by the “Companhia de Navegação Fluvial a Vapor Itajahy-Blumenau” (1878-1954). In the analyzed period, Santa Catarina presented a regional specialization and an economic spalling that reflected in the communication and transportation routes, generating a disarticulated system that, in a certain form, delayed the state’s regional integration. The “Companhia de Navegação Fluvial a Vapor Itajahy-Blumenau” was established in 1878 and navigated between the colony of Blumenau and the port of Itajaí. In 1909, the Company was incorporated by the “Estrada de Ferro Santa Catarina” who did the conjugated transportation from the colonies in the hinterland (by railway) to the coast (by river). In 1919, the navigation company and the railroad had been expropriated by the Federal Government and passed to the state government. In the 1930’s both had started to present a business loss and the navigation started to loose its significance. After the railway line extension from Itajaí to Blumenau, inaugurated in 1954, the navigation was completely deactivated. Even with its budget deficits, the navigation throughout the Itajaí-Açú River was fundamental to the Blumenau integration into a larger and more important commercial net.