The ports of Ibiza and La Savina undertake to respond to a pollution control incident in less than 30 minutes

The ports of Ibiza and La Savina undertake to respond to a pollution control incident in less than 30 minutes

Eivissa

02/09/2020

Over the next four years, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) will be allocating €866,000 to cleaning the water surface and the detection, control and clean-up of pollution caused by spills of any kind in the ports of Ibiza and La Savina.

The company that holds the concession for the service, the Patena Ibiza - La Savina consortium, will be responsible for removing waste and other floating and semi-submerged waste in zone I of the ports of Ibiza and La Savina every day of the year. In addition, a maximum response time of 30 minutes has been set to begin to tackle pollution incidents - such as hydrocarbons and grey water - and to provide assistance in other emergencies.

In this case, absorbent materials (barriers, absorbent cloths and authorised dispersants) will be used as an initial emergency measure to isolate the possible source of pollution, as well as the tools required to clean up the hydrocarbons (hooks, nets) and to collect bulky solid waste.

At the same time, diving equipment will be used in port waters to monitor the seabed and quays. 

The waste collected from the water surface will be separated, hermetically bagged and transported to containers, while the hydrocarbons and oily waste will be pumped to temporary storage.

For this purpose, two new purpose-built cleaning boats are available 24 hours a day, one in each port. These are the first electric vessels to be used for cleaning the water surface in the Balearic Islands, as well as the first electric boats to be used in the ports of Ibiza and La Savina. In addition, pumping, lifting and transport equipment, skimmers, barriers and cloths are also available. In areas where access is difficult, floating waste will be collected using drones. Moreover, the APB will review the functioning of the service on a monthly basis.