Noticias APB | Ports de Balears

The APB, committed to responsible relationship management

16/10/2014

The APB is involved in a process to implement responsible relationship management among its staff to identify the APB’s mission, vision and values, and apply them in its daily activities to serve society. Over the last seven months, nearly two dozen employees from the different ports managed by the APB have voluntarily taken part in building the foundations of responsible management for this public body. This will open up new ways to ensure that the work started by this core group is transmitted to the rest of the APB staff so that the end results of the initiative have a positive effect on society’s perception of the organisation.

The APB approves the tender terms and conditions for the new Cós Nou dry dock at the Port of Maó

10/10/2014

The APB’s Board of Directors has approved the terms and conditions governing the public tender to operate the facilities for vessel docking and launching, and providing supplies at the Cós Nou Quay at the Port of Maó. The tender will allow the APB to choose the best bid to grant an administrative concession to occupy an esplanade with a land surface area of 20,353 square metres, which can be extended, and a water surface of 7,016 square metres, making a total surface area of 27,369 square metres. The minimum annual tender is €285,418.31, and the maximum duration of the concession is 32 years.

The Port of Maó will be connected to the city via escalators

10/10/2014

The APB’s Board of Directors has approved a cooperation agreement between the APB and the Maó Town Council to improve access via Costa de Ses Voltes street, which links the port to the town via stone steps. The agreement will set out the framework for installing an escalator to improve access and links between the Port of Maó and the town centre.

The APB gives the go-ahead for work to redesign the seafront at the Port of Ibiza to get underway

01/10/2014

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has given the go-ahead on fitting out and modernising the South Quays at the Port of Ibiza with the tender awarded today to the company Corsán-Corviam Construcción, S.A., valued at €5.5 million (€5,556,899.70). The company has seven months to complete the work as soon as the verification of the onsite layout is signed, which is scheduled to take place in about two or three weeks. Corsán-Corviam Construcción was the winner of the open tender, in which 18 companies and consortia took part. The tender budget was €8.2 million (€8,279,052.00). The project to redesign the Port of Ibiza’s seafront, funded by the APB, aims to achieve seamless integration between the port and the city, with the creation of a square, a bike lane, the removal of physical barriers between both areas, and maximum restrictions on vehicle access in the area. The site will be used to build a new 600 m2 single-storey construction, made up of a 400m2 building and a 200m2 covered area, in which premises to provide marina services, such as storerooms, changing rooms, and offices, will be located alongside a 130m2 facility set aside for public uses, such as a tourist information office, and toilets.

The Port of Palma hosts the 2014 Palma Port Kart Cup

23/09/2014

Today, the Port of Palma hosted the presentation of the 2014 Palma Port Kart Cup, an event previously held in Monaco, and which has come to Palma for the first time. The ceremony, which was presided over by the Chairman of the Port Authority (APB), Alberto Pons, was attended by the Deputy Mayor of Culture and Sport, Fernando Gilet, and the Managing Director of the Palma de Majorca 365 Tourism Foundation, Pedro Homar. The presentation was also attended by Agustín Arbex, CEO of the event organiser, Arbex &amp Team the Chairman of the Balearic Islands’ Automobile Federation, Rafael Abraham the Deputy Chairman of Club Karting Rock and event coordinator, Ángel Martínez, and Borja Viladomiu from Karting Magalluf. The 2014 Palma Port Kart Cup will take place on 24th, 25th and 26th October at the Camino de s’escollera in the Port of Palma. As Fernando Gilet explained, this event has been highly sought after for a long time, and comes with the backing of having taken over from Monaco. In parallel, the Deputy Mayor stated that the 2014 Palma Port Kart Cup will be “an excellent showcase for the city, which dovetails with the determination shown by the Palma City Council and the Palma de Majorca 365 Tourism Foundation in organising events that promote the city as a tourist and sporting destination”. In turn, the APB Chairman pointed out that the event is "a tremendous boost for the Port-City project", and concluded that he was "very excited about this initiative which encourages residents and tourists to visit and enjoy the Port of Palma”.

The APB presents the new Port Innovation Platform

22/09/2014

Today saw the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) present the new Port Innovation Platform (PIP). This platform aims to pinpoint opportunities for improvement in ports and their surroundings, strengthening, leading, and supporting joint innovation projects to ensure they are successful. Through the new web, www.innovacion.portsdebalears.com, which was presented to the port community this lunchtime at the Port of Palma, the APB aims to apply the Smart Port concept, as the majority of innovative projects and ideas developed under this umbrella will be supported by new technologies. The presentation of the PIP was attended by the APB Chairman, Alberto Pons the Director-General of Ports and Airports, Antonio Deudero the Deputy Chairman of the Palma City Council’s Municipal Innovation Institute, Guillem Navarro the Vice-Chancellor of Innovation and Knowledge Transfer at the University of the Balearic Islands, Jordi Llabrés, and the Head of the APB´s Quality and Innovation Department, Jorge Martín. Alberto Pons highlighted the fact that APB ports "are leaders and we offer excellent services. Thus, the PIP will enable us to promote projects that come from private sources”. In turn, Jorge Martín, who presented the details of the web, pointed out that the PIP is not only a website, but is also a tool to connect users to the port, in which projects of public interest will be shared, so that tailor-made working groups can develop them.

The APB and the Majorca Food Bank Foundation sign a cooperation agreement

18/09/2014

This morning, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) and the Majorca Food Bank Foundation signed a cooperation agreement aimed at increasing awareness among the general public, institutions, and organisations to promote campaigns to collect food and subsequently donate it to those in need. The agreement was signed by the APB Chairman, Alberto Pons, and the Chairman of the Majorca Food Bank Foundation, José Falcó, at the APB´s offices in the Port of Palma. The idea for the project came from the APB’s employees at the Port of Palma, whom Pons thanked for their commitment to cooperation. The APB Chairman also stated his intention to promote the initiative among the port community, and expressed the hope that “these campaigns to combat hunger will be sporadic, and will not become a cyclical issue”. Likewise, the Chairman of the Majorca Food Bank Foundation, José Falcó, thanked the APB’s “active contribution” in combating a problem suffered by many people on the island.

The APB promotes Balearic Island ports at Seatrade Med Cruise in Barcelona

16/09/2014

A delegation from the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) is taking part in the Seatrade Med Cruise annual cruise convention, which is being held in Barcelona from 14th to 18th September. The APB delegation, led by its Chairman, Alberto Pons, is in Barcelona to attend several meetings with representatives of the world’s main shipping companies with a view to strengthening the trust these companies have placed in the islands’ public ports over the next few years. The delegation’s priority is to promote the ports of Mahon and Alcudia, as these two destinations have excellent potential for small and medium-sized cruise ships. 2015 is set to be a great season for the APB’s ports, which are scheduled to welcome two million passengers. The Port of Palma expects to beat all its previous records, in a season marked by regular calls of seven cruise ships over 300 metres long, including the Allure of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship.

The APB marks the tenth anniversary of the Portopí lighthouse’s Maritime Signalling Exhibition

02/09/2014

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has today presented the events scheduled to mark the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Portopí lighthouse’s Maritime Signalling Exhibition, which brings together two decades of work carried out by navigational aid experts in the collection, restoration, and conservation of diverse material, documents, and equipment related to maritime signalling and lighthouses on the Balearic Islands. To celebrate the first ten years of this unique exhibition, the Port of Palma will be opening the West Breakwater access to the Portopí lighthouse to the general public on 13th and 14th September. The exhibition will be open on Saturday 13th from 10.30 to 14.00, and 17.00 to 20.00. Opening hours on Sunday 14th will be from 10.30 to 14.00. There will also be guided tours at 11.00, 13.00, and 18.30. Activities for children have been scheduled, such as popular and group games, workshops to play a bottle top game, tie sailor knots, make flags, and build lighthouses. These activities have been designed to let children discover and enjoy the fascinating world of lighthouses and “feel the magic inside them", in the words of the APB Chairman, Alberto Pons, in his presentation of the Open Days. Portopí lighthouse The Portopí lighthouse, which has been standing for seven centuries and is the world’s third oldest working lighthouse, has played host to a permanent and unique exhibition of maritime signals since 2004. The exhibition can be visited on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings by appointment. For further information, visit the www.farsdebalears.com website. This portal gives information about the salient aspects of Balearic Islands’ lighthouses, such as historic documents from their archives, lenses, lanterns, 360º images of their location, interviews with former lighthouse keepers, and a virtual visit around the Portopí exhibition, which is the centre point of the Open Days on 13th and 14th September.

APB offers maximum rebates to cruise ships calling at the ports of Maó and Alcudia

28/08/2014

The APB, in its 2015 Business Plan, which has been agreed with the State-owned Ports Body, has adopted the maximum rebate legally permitted for cruise ships calling at the ports of Maó and Alcudia, in order to promote cruise traffic and contribute to the economic and social development of these islands. Accordingly, as of the first of January 2015, cruise ships calling at these two ports will benefit from a 40% rebate on both the vessel and passenger charges. According to the APB Chairman, Alberto Pons, this measure responds to the authority´s commitment to promote these two destinations, given the tourism and logistics opportunities they offer. “We have to make sure that shipping companies don’t object to working with us for economic reasons”, said Pons, who was confident that these companies would take into account the efforts made by the APB in terms of charge rebates for 2015. Reduced charges With the same objective in mind, the APB has also decided to apply a 20% rebate on the vessel, passenger, and goods charges for regular goods and passenger traffic at the Port of Maó in 2015. According to the APB, maritime traffic to and from the Minorcan port is highly strategic and it has included this rebate to make it more competitive. In 2015, the APB will be maintaining the reductions it has already applied this year at all the public interest ports it manages, consisting of a 30% rebate on the passenger charge, and a 10% rebate on the goods charge, aimed at boosting economic activity on the islands. In addition, the APB applies the maximum rebate legally permitted as an island group on charges for shipping services to and from other ports outside the archipelago. These reductions consist of a 40% rebate on the vessel and goods charges, a 45% rebate on the passenger charge, and a 60% rebate for vehicles transported as goods. All these measures will be presented to the APB’s Board of Directors for endorsement, and their subsequent approval in the 2015 General State Budget Law.

Over two million cruise passengers to call at Balearic Islands’ ports in 2015

27/08/2014

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) is getting ready for the best cruise season in its history in 2015, which will see it welcoming over two million passengers in just one year. The Port of Palma is the driving force behind the upturn in figures with 1.8 million passengers calling at the Majorcan enclave next year, thus representing an increase of half a million passengers on the forecast for 2014. According to the APB Chairman, Alberto Pons, these figures are very positive because they show the efforts made “to encourage the major shipping companies to continue using Palma as a destination”.This is borne out by forecasts which indicate that around 600 cruises will be calling at the Port of Palma next year. Thus, the port will beat its own record, set in 2011, in which it registered 1.4 million passengers and 534 calls in just one year. The figures recorded in 2011 were distorted by the events of the Arab Spring, which caused over 50 cruise ships to be diverted to the Port of Palma from the north of Africa at the last minute.The highlights of the 2015 season include 23 visits of the Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, which is 361 metres long and has a capacity for over 6,000 passengers. In fact, a total of nine cruise ships over 300 metres long will be calling at the port during the season. Ships such as the Costa Diadema, MSC Divina, MSC Preziosa, Norwegian Epic, Voyager of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, and the Celebrity Equinox will be regular visitors to the port. The three Mein Schiff ships, belonging to the company TUI, have also asked to use the Port of Palma as their home port for next season’s operations.Alcudia continues to growThe other Majorcan port managed by the APB, the Port of Alcudia, will be playing host to five cruises in 2015, three more than in 2014, with the Silver Wind calling at the port on three occasions. Conversely, calls at the ports of Ibiza (-11.6%), Mahon (-35.9%) and La Savina (-85.7%) are set to fall in 2015.These estimates are based on the berthing requests made by the cruise companies operating at the APB ports, and thus may change over the next few months. Press Office Port Authority of the Balearic Islands

Port of Maó now open to larger ships following successful completion of APB dredging project

24/07/2014

The aim of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) to improve depths in the commercial port of Maó has been met, thanks to the dredging work that got underway last March. As a result of this project, the Minorcan port is now safer for vessel navigation, and can cater for ships up to nine metres deep. The general dredging work and discharge into the sea of dredged materials ended on 4th July. The operations to extract the last moderately contaminating dredged material and discharge it at the Cós Nou quay were concluded on 12th July. It is estimated that around 20,000 cubic metres of dredged material has been transferred to the Es Milà landfill site. During the dredging, no work accidents took place. Archaeological and environmental checks Around 9,000 archaeological pieces were recovered during the work, 4,000 of which will be sent to the Minorca Museum over the next year to be processed. The remaining pieces, which are of lesser archaeological interest, have been returned to the sea bed, in a monitored area of the port. During the dredging work, no dumping into the sea was carried out whilst there was a possibility of marine currents carrying the dredged material towards the coast. This was achieved thanks to the installation of a current meter and the use of a system which constantly informed the dredgers of the ocean current conditions. This and other actions were part of the Environmental Watch Plan (PVA), which was supervised by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography. The APB has temporarily maintained a link on www.portsdebalears.com to the website created specifically to monitor the dredging work at the Port of Maó, which has enabled visitors to follow the schedule and progress of the main aspects of the work, read the reports drawn up in the PVA, view the geographical position of the vessels used to transport the dredged material to the authorised discharge point, and monitor all the documents that have been posted on the website and updated as the work progressed.