Nelcy da Silva Campos was born in Recife on 21 January 1931. He worked for 25 years as a tugboat captain at Port Recife. His father’s name was Nélson Campos and he also worked at Port Recife. It was from his father that he learned this craft.

Since the beginning of civilisation, due to its high strategic value, the position of Cabo de Santo Agostinho and the configuration of the adjacent regions enabled the use of the Suape estuary as a port infrastructure base, as well as the dispute between the Dutch and Portuguese .