The president of the Port Authority of theBalearic Islands (PAB), Francesc Triay, gave a press conference to cover the events that have been organized by the cruise company AIDA Cruises for the christening ceremony of the cruise ship AIDAluna, to be held next weekend in the Port of Palma. On Saturday, April 4, at nine in the evening, the chief authorities of the islands will be received on board by the heads of AIDA Cruises and Carnival Corporation before the commencement of the ceremony. The patroness of AIDAluna, German top model Franziska Knupp, will perform the christening of the ship.

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (PAB) has returned from Seatrade Cruise Shipping Miami, the world's largest international trade fair for cruise ships, with an award from the Dream World Cruise Destination Magazine which recognizes the Port of Palma for being the best port operations base for cruise ships. A delegation, headed by the chairman of the PAB, Francesc Triay, participated in the annual meeting of the international cruise ship tourism industry, by representing the Balearic Islands in the promotional programme that Ports of the State organizes every year in this U.S.

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (PAB) has initiated the proceedings for tenders for the construction of the esplanade and commercial docks in the shelter of the Botafoc dock in the port of Ibiza, with a budget of approximately ninety four million euros and a maximum period of execution of thirty months. This afternoon the open tender was announced by the BOE, which sets the foundations which must be met by the contestants. Yesterday, Wednesday, the information was sent to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (PAB) has recently taken on a number of building projects in the port of Palma, for a total of three million euros. This includes the construction of a Duque de Alba on the platform of the western dock (Dique del Oeste) for docking of ships exceeding 130 meters in length. The increasing size of vessels arriving at the port of Palma has prompted the need for the installation of this fixed point mooring, 65 meters from the pier.

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (PAB) has reached an agreement with the Govern de les Illes Balears, the Council and the Town Council of Ibiza to start the expansion and reform of the port of Ibiza, with the initiation of construction work on the docks of Botafoc.

In 2008 The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (PAB) experienced an 8% growth in the number of cruise passengers from 2007. There was also an increase of 1% in the number of stopovers. However, freight traffic declined by 8% and regular passenger traffic by 10%. In total, 1,315,933 cruise passengers made landfall over the past year at the ports of the PAB: 1,131,147 in the port of Palma (8% increase), 103,574 in the port of Mahon (+14%) and 79,210 in the port of Ibiza (-1%).

Today at the Port of Palma, the PAB presented new uniforms to the Port Authority Police, the same day that they entered in force in the five ports that it manages: Palma, Alcudia, Ibiza, Mahon and La Savina. The chairman of the PAB, Francesc Triay, was the person in charge presenting the new uniforms to the press, in a ceremony held this morning at the headquarters of the PAB in the port of Palma.

The Board of Directors of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (PAB) approved today, at its last meeting of the year, the Business Plan for 2009. The plan envisages an investment of more than forty-five million euros in five major ports managed by the PAB in the Balearic archipelago. Among the items detailed in the meeting was the 4.8 million euros destined for the construction of the new maritime station at the Port of Alcudia, which is expected to become operational next summer.The Port of Palma has a budget of 18.1 million euros for work to be carried out in 2009.

As of this week, the port of Palma has a new travel lift for boats of up to 700 tonnes and 60 meters in length, which consolidates the port as a strategic point in the Mediterranean in the sector of superyacht repairs. The travel lift is located in the dry dock area of the Commercial Dock (Muelle Comercial) in the port of Palma. It is managed by the company STP and has been installed by the Italian firm Ascom.The port of Palma has more than 105,000 square meters allocated to the maintenance and repair of boats of up to 90 meters in length.

The Port of Palma has registered for the first time the simultaneous stopovers of seven cruise ships, which coincided for several hours today in the bay of the capital of Majorca. These were the ships Wind Surf, Aidacara, Aidadiva, Thomson Spirit, Insignia, Grand Celebration and Oriana, which carried on board a total of more than eight thousand five hundred passengers. In fact, the Port of Palma had already registered the presence of seven tourist cruises on the same day, but never all at the same time.