The APB to ask the TSJIB for an explanation of the judgment which requires a new appraisal of the bids to manage the moorings on the Levante Quay at the Port of Maó
21/03/2013The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) is set to ask the Balearic Islands High Court of Justice (TSJIB) for an explanation of the judgment which orders a new appraisal of the most advantageous bid to manage the moorings on the Levante Quay between Punta de Cala Figuera and Punta des Rellotge at the Port of Maó. In this judgment, published on 19th March, the TSJIB considers that there is insufficient reasoning in the report drawn up by the tender appraisal committee which proposed the bid submitted by Trapsayates as the best offer. It has thus ordered the tender procedure to be returned to the point at which this committee makes a new properly reasoned appraisal of the most advantageous bid. Challenges dismissed The TSJIB furthermore dismisses the other challenges filed by the Maó Sailing Club and the Balearic Island Yacht Club Association (ACNB) disputing the resolution of the APB Board of Directors of 2nd October 2008 and the resolution of 22nd December 2008 of the APB Chairman in which Trapsayates was awarded the management of the moorings on the Levante Quay at the Port of Maó. The TSJIB specifically concludes that the Trapsayates project does not fail to comply with the conditions for the tender. Neither does the court consider it necessary for the bid submitted by this company to require an Environmental Impact Study since its proposal does not constitute any substantial alteration to the port facility. The judgment states that the appealing parties have not proved that the company which was awarded the contract finally executed a project that was different from the one approved. It finally endorses the APB by dismissing the allegations presented by the Maó Sailing Club.
The APB explains the Environmental Watch Plan for the dredging of the Port of Maó to the Sant Lluís Town Council
20/03/2013This morning, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands explained the details of the Environmental Watch Plan for the dredging of the Port of Maó to the Sant Lluís Town Council. The Plan ensures that the town’s coastline and the Isla del Aire’s SCI (Site of Community Importance) will not be affected. A group of APB experts provided the Minorcan town council delegation, headed by its Mayor, Cristóbal Coll, with comprehensive information about the Environmental Watch Plan which is already being implemented in the areas to be dredged and the subsequent controlled discharge. The Plan includes supervising and monitoring water quality in the dredging areas and in the waters near the discharge area, ensures that the discharge will be carried out in the demarcated area in favourable weather conditions, and continuous monitoring of biological communities and the Posidonia oceanica meadows near the coast to guarantee they are not affected. The Environmental Watch Plan has three phases. A first pre-dredging phase, which is already underway, a second phase during the dredging and a third phase a year after the dredging and discharge have finished. During the second phase, water transparency will be monitored daily and its quality will be assessed weekly using water column analysis and the inspection of sensitive seabed areas at strategic points along the coastline. A specifically designed web site will enable regular monitoring of the results obtained in the environmental watch and supervision process. A warning plan has also been devised in order to take palliative measures or stop the dredging should this be necessary. Environmental Report In addition, the Directorate General of Fishery Resources and Aquaculture, which comes under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, has published a report which confirms its approval of the Port of Maó dredging project “as long as the Environmental Watch Plan is strictly complied with”. According to the Environment Ministry, the project has also been approved by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Balearic Islands Government’s Directorate General of Rural and Marine Affairs and the Maó Fishing Guild.
Awards for the ports of Palma and Maó at the Miami international cruise show
13/03/2013The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has received two awards from the prestigious Cruise Insight magazine at Cruise Shipping Miami, the world’s leading cruise trade fair. The publication has recognised the Port of Palma’s efforts in improving its facilities and the Port of Maó as a highly recommended destination. The APB heads the Balearic delegation in Miami which is promoting the Balearic Islands as a top destination for cruise tourism in the Western Mediterranean. The APB is joined in the North American city by the shipping agents Miguel Puigserver, Transcoma, Lantimar and Baleares Consignatarios, and by the Balearic Islands Government, represented by the Balearic Islands Tourism Agency (ATB), and the Directorate-General of Ports and Airports, the Palma 365 Foundation and the city councils of Ibiza, Maó and Alcudia.
El IEO considera que el vertido al mar del material dragado en el puerto de Maó no afectará el LIC de la Isla del Aire
12/03/2013La Autoridad Portuaria de Baleares (APB) ha recibido del Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) un escrito en relación al dragado del puerto de Maó, en el que da por bueno el nuevo estudio de corrientes que se ha realizado en el marco del Plan de Vigilancia Ambiental y que considera que el LIC próximo a la Isla del Aire no resultará afectado por el vertido. “Lo que se verá apoyado -añade el IEO- por la condición impuesta por la Capitanía Marítima de no realizar el vertido con un viento de componente Este mayor de 5 nudos”.En el documento, recibido la semana pasada, el IEO aprueba las aclaraciones hechas tanto por la APB como por la empresa CBBA a su primer informe de marzo de 2012, en el que realizaba varias consultas en torno al dragado. En concreto destaca “especialmente en lo que respecta a la carecterización del punto de vertido”, dado que se ha realizado una campaña oceanográfica que ha servido para completar la información ya existente.En el escrito, el IEO manifiesta que “nos parecen razonables las explicaciones que se dan cuando se analizan los valores de referencia de las RGMD (Recomendaciones para la Gestión del Material de Dragado) del CEMEX y, en todo caso, se comprende que actualmente son las recomendaciones más universales dentro del sistema portuario español”. En este sentido, el IEO matiza que los comentarios efectuados en el informe de marzo de 2012 se correponderían con la mejora y actualización de dichas RGMD, “algo en lo que se está trabajando”, confirma.El organismo dedicado a la investigación en ciencias del mar considera “fundamental el hecho de que tanto la Dirección General de Medio Rural y Marino de la CAIB como la Cofradía de pescadores de Maó estén de acuerdo con el proyecto”. También destaca que el dragado no coincida con el período de puesta del raor.Finalmente, el IEO hace “hincapié en la necesidad de un cumplimiento escrupuloso” del Plan de Vigilancia Ambiental del proyecto del dragado del puerto de Maó.
The Port Authority attends the Miami cruise fair to showcase the Balearic Islands as an established destination
10/03/2013The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) is heading the Balearic expedition to Cruise Shipping Miami, the leading international cruise shipping trade show held in the North American city from 11th to 14th March. The Balearic Island group is one of the 24 state-owned port delegations visiting the event under the umbrella of the State-owned Ports Body to present what Spanish ports have to offer to the world cruise market. The APB and the shipping agents Miguel Puigserver, Transcoma, Lantimar and Baleares Consignatarios will also be joined by the Balearic Islands Government, represented by the Balearic Islands Tourism Agency (ATB), and the Directorate-General of Ports and Airports, the Palma 365 Foundation and the city councils of Ibiza, Mahon and Alcudia. The APB has a 35m2 stand in Miami within the State-owned Ports Body exhibition area, which is second only in size to the Port of Barcelona stand. According to the APB Chairman, José Mª Urrutia, “at this show, the Balearic Islands is a mature destination which has a lot more to offer than its direct competitors and always captivates visitors with its Mediterranean personality. The APB offers a meeting point and working space for all those taking part to promote their destinations”. Currently, according to data provided by the State-owned Ports Body, APB ports come in fifth on the European cruise destination ranking and twelfth in the world. At the cruise event, the APB will be presenting the new extension of the Port of Palma’s Poniente quays which can cater for cruise ships over 300 metres long, and the new Botafoc quays at the Port of Ibiza which will further cruise market development in the Pityusic Islands. It will also be showcasing the improved depths at the Port of Mahon which aim to attract medium length cruise vessels to Minorca the modern infrastructures at the Port of Alcudia as a new, highly attractive destination for exclusive luxury cruises and the spectacular nature areas in Formentera for vessels interested in visiting La Savina. The Balearic Islands’ ports expect to welcome over 1.3 million cruise passengers on around 670 calls in 2013.
The Balearic Islands’ ports and lighthouses on display at the Ibiza Congress Center
06/03/2013The month of March sees the completion of the exhibitions held to showcase the entries in the 3rd APB Painting and Photography Competition at the Ibiza Congress Center in Santa Eulària des Riu. On this occasion, the exhibition has travelled around the islands of Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza for the first time, given the large number of participants. The 240 works entered into the competition show the interest that this type of initiative organised by the APB has generated amongst the artistic community and amateur painters and photographers. The exhibition which runs from today until 21st March showcases the twelve award-winning paintings and photographs as well as around 40 other works entered into the competition on the island of Ibiza. The Culture Councillor, Ana Costa, who attended the exhibition’s opening ceremony alongside the APB’s Head of Communication, Raimond Jaume, and the Regional Culture Minister, Josefa Costa, commented that the cooperation project had been promoted to mark the hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the Mallorca steam boat, and had taken into account the maritime theme of the competition organised by the APB. Costa also highlighted “the added value of the lighthouses that protect vessels from the dangers of the coast. Let us not forget that if the Llosa de Santa Eulària had been marked, the (Mallorca) accident would probably never have occurred”. The APB exhibited all the works entered into the 3rd Painting and Photography Competition on the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands’ ports and lighthouses during the Christmas period at the Ses Voltes Cultural Centre in Palma. In turn, the works submitted in Minorca were shown in the month of February at the Caixa de Maó exhibition hall.
El vertido al mar de los fangos del puerto de Maó cuenta con las autorizaciones necesarias en este tipo de proyectos
01/03/2013El vertido controlado al mar del material dragado del puerto de Maó cuenta con todos los informes y autorizaciones necesarios para este tipo de proyectos que se realizan en España y además es el procedimiento recomendado por las administraciones competentes, puesto que su extracción, tratamiento y vertido en tierra podrían provocar impactos ambientales de mayor magnitud. Destaca sobre todos la salinización de los acuíferos de la isla de Menorca a consecuencia de la filtración del agua del mar que resultaría del depósito en tierra de miles de metros cúbicos de fangos con altas concentraciones de sal. Así lo constata el Organismo Público Puertos del Estado (OPPE) que apunta además otros inconvenientes por los que fue descartada la gestión en tierra de los materiales a dragar.Otro problema sería el consumo energético y el impacto ambiental que provocarían por las carreteras de la Isla el transporte terrestre mediante camiones de 200.000 metros cúbicos de material pastoso o semilíquido, así como todos los asociados por la desubicación de especies vivas de un medio marino a otro terrestre. Desde un punto de vista administrativo y de gestión estaría la dificultad del acopio temporal, transporte, tratamiento y almacenamiento de materiales fangosos, lo que provocaría una importante demora en el tiempo y un encarecimiento de la obra que harían inviable el dragado, con las consiguientes y graves implicaciones que ocasionaría para el tráfico marítimo del puerto, en especial para el de cruceros y buques de mayores dimensiones.El OPPE dio a conocer el pasado mes de enero en Maó, durante la II Jornada Técnica de puertas abiertas sobre el dragado del puerto organizado por la Autoridad Portuaria de Baleares (APB), que durante 2011 los puertos de interés general del Estado vertieron directamente al mar o bien reutilizaron en obras portuarias o marítimas la totalidad de los más de cinco millones de metros cúbicos de material dragado. La única excepción que apuntó el OPPE fue la del puerto de Sevilla, que vertió parte del material dragado en depositos en tierra, puesto que se trata de un puerto fluvial de agua no salada. A esta jornada fue invitada a asistir expresamente la organización internacional Oceana, invitación que no fue atendida.Recomendaciones del CEDEXLa APB cumple de forma estricta las recomendaciones del CEDEX, organismo de referencia en España sobre el tratamiento del material procedente de dragados. Estas recomendaciones solo contemplan el vertido de forma controlada al mar, y no en tierra, del material catalogado como categoría II. Es decir, aquel material que contiene concentraciones moderadas de contaminantes. El material a dragar del puerto de Maó ha sido catalogado como de categoría II.
The material dredged from the Port of Maó will be disposed of at the authorised point on a seabed of sand
20/02/2013The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) will ensure that the material dredged from the Port of Maó is disposed of at the authorised discharge point in an area where the seabed is made up of coarse sand and there are no important marine species. In January, the APB commissioned a report on the most recent inspection of the seabed at the authorised discharge point as part of the first phase of the Environmental Watch Plan in the Port of Maó dredging project. The aim of this report was to obtain updated detailed information about the seabed’s composition via the collection of samples and the recording of a video. The report concluded that the dredged material should be disposed of in the northeast section of the prospected area which is made up of coarse sand and has no protected species and suggested that “the vessel should discharge the dredged material progressively as it moves away from the coast towards deeper waters” so as not to dispose of it in one particular point. This information was made public at the 2nd Technical Open Day on the dredging of the Port of Maó, organised by the APB in the Minorcan capital in January. The APB has published the video on its web site www.portsdebalears.com, its Twitter account @PortsdeBalears and on its Facebook page (Ports de Balears).
The APB to concentrate traffic to and from Formentera at the Port of Ibiza’s commercial quays
18/02/2013The APB Chairman, José Mª Urrutia, today announced the decision to concentrate all maritime traffic to and from Formentera at the Port of Ibiza´s commercial quays. This decision was made public after a meeting this afternoon with the President of the Ibiza Island Council, Vicent Serra the President of the Formentera Island Council, Jaume Ferrer and the Mayor of Ibiza, Marienna Sánchez-Jáuregui, to discuss the location of maritime traffic between the Pityusic Islands in the renovation of the Port of Ibiza. The APB Chairman pointed out that the final choice is the result of the Port Authority’s commitment to abide by the decision made by the Ibiza authorities. This area will house a passenger terminal which will be situated as close to the city as possible, and will also have enough space for car parks, public transport and pre-embarkation areas. Urrutia stated that he hopes that these facilities will be ready “in 18 months or 2 years”, and that he is committed to keeping “dialogue open with the Ibiza and Formentera authorities, and to consulting any points that may cause controversy”. For his part, the President of the Ibiza Island Council, Vicent Serra, thanked the APB “for letting us, the authorities, decide for ourselves”. The intention, according to the island President, “was to achieve the widest possible consensus”. Along these lines, the President of the Formentera Island Council, Jaume Ferrer, stressed that the best solution for Formentera was for the vessels to stay where they are, but seeing as this was not an option, the decision was made to relocate to the commercial quays. However, Ferrer did ask “to have all the necessary explanations from the APB about what the services will be like and how the area for traffic to and from the island will be set out”. The Mayor of Ibiza, Marienna Sánchez-Jáuregui, thanked the efforts made by the Ibiza and Formentera authorities and by the APB to reach the widest possible consensus.
The APB ends 2012 with a turnover of €59.5 million and a net profit of €14.8 million
08/02/2013Yesterday afternoon in Palma de Majorca, the Board of Directors of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) gave the go ahead to the provisional closure of the 2012 financial year. Turnover for the year reached €59.5 million whilst profit stood at €14.8 million. The turnover figure meant a drop of 0.69% over the previous year, and was 0.5% below the forecast. Provisional profit was 5.3% lower than 2011 yet was far superior to the forecast of €8.2 million. The APB complied with the limits imposed by Spanish Government’s Austerity Plan both in terms of staff costs and current expenditure. The APB’s receivables went down compared to 2011 as a result of two factors: a €5 million drop during 2012 in the amount of trade receivables for sales and services which reduced liabilities to €26.9 million and a €10 million increase in the provisions for insolvencies over the last two years. The APB currently has 64 trade debtors who owe amounts in excess of €10,000 and 1,500 debtors who owe smaller amounts. STP debt deferral The APB’s Board of Directors also approved a debt repayment plan requested by the firm Servicios Técnicos Portuarios, SL (STP) for €7.6 million. This amount is to be paid back over a period of three and a half years based on an amortisation table and a series of conditions that include the corresponding late payment interest and payment guarantees.
General cargo rises by five percent at the Balearic Islands’ ports
01/02/2013In 2012, general cargo handled at the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) increased by 5% to 8.4 million tonnes compared to 8 million tonnes in 2011. Traffic at the Port of Palma went up by 11% to 5.9 million tonnes, compared to 5.3 million in the previous year. Total goods traffic in the five public interest ports in the Balearic Islands rose by 3%. 11.5 million tonnes were handled in 2012 compared to 11.2 million tonnes in 2011. The Port of Palma was the only public interest port in the Balearic Islands whose volumes rose in this area whilst figures were down at the rest of the archipelago´s ports which recorded decreases of less than 10%. In 2012, traffic at the Port of Mahon fell by 9% to 729,472 tonnes, goods handled at the Port of Ibiza dropped by 8% to 1.8 million tonnes, figures at Alcudia went down by 3% to 1.5 million tonnes and La Savina fell by 1% to 268,311 tonnes. Other traffic The Port of Palma was also the only port to grow in terms of general cargo traffic in 2012 although figures for the Port of La Savina remained unchanged at 252,873 tonnes. These decreases were also less than 10%: 9% at Ibiza (1.4 million tonnes) and Mahon (537,724 tonnes), and 7% at the Port of Alcudia (250,045 tonnes). The Port of Palma registered an increase in solid bulk traffic, basically thanks to cement exports. This represented a rise of 28% to 243,717 tonnes, whilst figures were down at the other ports: Mahon -57%, Ibiza -29%, La Savina -9% and Alcudia -2%. Finally, liquid bulk (basically fuel) traffic rose in 2012 at the ports of Ibiza and Mahon, by 3% and 1% respectively, and fell at the Majorcan ports of Alcudia (-11%) and Palma (-5%). For further statistical information, visit www.portsdebalears.com.
