The Government of the Balearic Islands has appointed today, in the governing council to the president of the Island Council of Minorca, Marc Pons, as a new member of the board of the Port Authority of Balearic Islands (PAB), in place of Joana Barceló, current counsellor for the Department of Labour and Training of the autonomous executive. Marc Pons has been summoned by the PAB to attend the next meeting of the board of directors to be held October 2 in Palma de Mallorca, at which time the bids for the moorings at the Levante dock in the Port of Mahon will be settled.

The technical committee of the PAB, which is responsible for reporting on the bids submitted to public tender for the operation of a center for storage and distribution of cement in the Ribera dock at the Port of Alcudia, has accepted the bid from the company Reunides Sitges, SL. The board of the PAB voted in favour of the tender proposed by the chairman of the PAB, Francesc Triay, in accordance with the assessment made by the technical committee.

The PAB and the Spanish Tourist Office in Miami organized a familiarization trip (fam trip) for the Balearic Islands to introduce the main cruise companies to the tourist attractions of the islands. From the 12th to the16th of September they toured Ibiza, Formentera, Majorca and Minorca and visited, in addition to the ports of the PAB, Dalt Vila of Ibiza, Sant Antoni, Santa Eulària, the Mola Formentera, the historic center of Palma, the Serra de Tramuntana, Alcudia, Mahon and Cuitadella.

The PAB is forecast to invest 116 million euros until beyond 2012 in the completion of the new terminal for cargo and passengers projected for the Port of Ibiza. The Business Plan for the PAB has approved an estimated investment of 115.7 million euros in construction in the Port of Ibiza. The projects include the construction of the esplanade and the two quays, with a forecast budget of 70 million. The work has an estimated duration of 24 months.

The PAB has organized a familiarization trip (Fam Trip), in collaboration with the Spanish Tourist Office in Miami, to the ports of Palma, Mahon, Ibiza and La Savina, with the aim of raising awareness among major international cruise companies of new attractions in the Balearic Islands as a tourist destination.

The PAB has recently completed several projects in the Port of Palma with an overall investment of more than six and a half million euros and that consisted mainly of improvements to port infrastructures for cruise traffic and transport of cargo and passengers.Among the highlights was the new image of the cruise ship boarding lounge of Dique del Oeste. With a budget of close to 340,000 euros, it promotes the islands as a tourist destination with large photographs and also facilitates access for passengers to luggage check-in and public transport services.At Passenger Terminal No.

The PAB has granted the operation of berths on the north bank of the old Ibiza Nueva, in the Port of Ibiza, to the company Serveis SL Maritims Port d'Eivissa (Semar), for a period of 17 years. This finalizes the Authorization of Temporary Occupation (AOT) of the space that Semar had been using since April 2008.

During the first half of 2008, the major ports managed by the PAB experienced an increase of 13 percent in cruise ship passengers, compared to the same period last year. From 30 January to the 1 June of this year, 506,404 cruisers passed through these Balearic ports, compared to 446,352 recorded the previous year. The Port of Ibiza recorded an increase of 19 percent, with a total of 33,780 passengers, followed by Palma, with an increase of 13 percent and 432,705 passengers, and Mahon, with 39,182 passengers, which was 9 percent more than in the first six months of 2007.

The PAB has put into service the new provisional waiting area for boarding passengers in the terminal at the Port of Ibiza. The aim is to improve conditions for the passengers until the new Botafoc terminal is ready.The PAB has conditioned the first floor of the former passenger terminal of the Port of Ibiza with an air-conditioning system, toilets and seating, so that passengers have a secure, cool and comfortable place to wait for arriving vessels..

The Port of Palma recorded, on July 17, a record of 10,000 cruise passengers in one day, accommodating three megacruiseships and another medium in size at its docks. The four ships were Costa Magica, with 101,350 tonnes and 272 metres MSC Orchestra, with 92,409 tonnes and 293 metres Arcadia, with 83,000 tonnes and 285 metres and Thomsom Destiny, with 37,773 tonnes and 214 metres. The Port of Palma is expected, in 2008, to beat the historic record of 500 stopovers in the same year.