News APB | Ports de Balears

The APB is improving the management of its ports with geospatial technology

15/04/2024

In collaboration with Ersi España and Prodevelop, the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) has implemented Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to manage information on the infrastructures and port operations in its five general interest ports more efficiently. The platform integrates the port authority's ICT systems, providing a standardised and comprehensive solution for managing assets, operations, and infrastructures. The APB handles an annual volume of more than 50,000 port calls, one of the highest in Spain. It also has one of the highest passenger traffic volumes, registering more than 2.4 million cruise passengers and six million scheduled passengers. The rollout of the smart map systems will help to achieve an efficient and synchronised management of the data generated by port operations, concessions, tenders, asset and infrastructure management, fleets, port services, and port security, among other things. GIS also allow for real-time monitoring. In addition, the integrated graphic management of the APB's assets will allow users to take advantage of the available information in order to optimise and streamline port processes, such as organising the public areas, recreational craft, ports of call, and supply networks.

Technology and innovation

The port of Maó welcomes PescArt Menorca

05/04/2024

The Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) and the Maó Fishermen's Guild have joined the PescArt Menorca initiative, a circular and blue economy project promoted by Menorca Preservation and brought to fruition by the Plastic-Free Menorca Alliance. The decision will see the port of Maó participate in the recycling of discarded fishing nets. The port of Maó is the third port on the island to sign up to the initiative to recycle disused fishing nets in order to give them a second useful life, following in the footsteps of Ciutadella and Fornells. Its involvement in the project will further boost the scope and impact of PescArt Menorca, not only in terms of the number of nets collected and recycled but also by diversifying and enriching the artistic and artisan creations. In addition to collecting and recycling fishing nets, the initiative also offers a programme of workshops, both specifically for artisans and artists and for other groups. Furthermore, in the coming months, PescArt Menorca will schedule two exhibitions to showcase the artistic and artisanal pieces created as part of the project and will be consolidating new lines of collaboration and research. As a new feature this year, PescArt Menorca has also decided to incorporate other types of plastic waste with artistic potential, such as wetsuits and parasols.

Port-city

The APB’s Board of Directors has approved a good environmental practices agreement with Marina La Savina

21/03/2024

At its latest meeting, held yesterday in Palma, the Board of Directors of the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) approved a collaboration agreement with Marina La Savina on good environmental practices in the general interest port of La Savina. The agreement, which will be valid for six months, aims to increase environmental investments in the nautical facility. As part of the agreement, Port Med Formentera S.L. has pledged to invest at least 50% of the savings in environmental improvement projects in the surrounding area. In addition, it must adhere to a set of technical and operational instructions based on the guidelines for good environmental practices approved by the State Ports Authority. The company is also obliged to have ISO 14001 certification. Port Med Formentera S.L. is the company currently authorised to manage the moorings on the western quay of La Savina Port, operating under the name Marina La Savina. In accordance with current legislation, the APB provides that all holders of a concession or licence to carry out certain types of port activities — including fishing and nautical sports — may subscribe to an agreement on good environmental practices in exchange for a 15% discount on their business activity fee.

Environment and CSR

The APB is putting the management of the moorings on the western quay of Ibiza Port out to public tender

21/03/2024

At its latest meeting, held yesterday in Palma, the Board of Directors of the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) approved the specifications and operating clauses that will govern the public tender for permission to manage more than ninety moorings for recreational vessels on the western quay of Ibiza’s port. The facility occupies a total surface area of more than 20,000 square metres of public port domain, most of which is water. Specifically, the contract being put out to tender includes the management of two floating jetties and the berthing line on the marina's western quay, known as es Martell. The lengths of the vessels covered by the licence range from six and a half to sixty metres. Of these, twelve are between 25 and 60 metres long. The duration of the contract also provides for the possibility of two one-year extensions. The annual occupancy fee will be, as a minimum, around 579,000 euros.

Socio-economic development

The APB supports and champions the role of women in the Port Police Force

08/03/2024

The APB (Balearic Port Authority) today held a round table discussion to celebrate International Women’s Day. Under the slogan Somos Mujeres, somos Autoridad, somos Portuarias [We’re Women, we’re Authority, we’re the Port Police], the APB’s aim was to highlight the role of women in the force, which had historically been a male domain. At the event, the APB Archive team presented some previously unpublished documents that show very clearly that the Authority was a pioneer in Spain in terms of the incorporation of women into the Port Police. Inmaculada Morán, who in 1991 became the very first female Port Police officer in the Balearic Islands, took part in the round table. Furthermore, many of the women who are currently working for the APB, and either are, or have been, members of the Port Police at one of the five ports of general interest managed by the organisation, including Olga Peñalver, Elke Fernández, Raquel Ripoll, Maribel Torres and Fosi Jiménez, talked about their own experiences. They recalled the process of preparing to sit the Port Police entrance exams, and what working relationships with the other members of the port community were like. One of the very first female members of the Port Police was Olga Peñalver, who joined in 1996 and is now head of the Conservation Department. Peñalver said that “among the male officers, the fact that there were now women on the force came as quite a shock. In fact, they didn’t have changing rooms or uniforms for women”. She added that “when a Port Police Officer became pregnant, they didn’t quite know what to do or how to manage the situation”. Many of the women who started out as Port Police officers subsequently pursued a professional career within the APB, and today hold managerial posts within the company, like Olga Peñalver.

Port-city

The port of Eivissa unveils a new landscaped area at the Moll de Ribera quay

04/03/2024

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has completed landscaping and urban adaptation work on the Moll de Ribera quay, near the stormwater detention vault in the port of Eivissa. The work involved setting up new green spaces featuring planters with native vegetation and shrubs. New modular benches and three metal-framed pergolas with a wooden top finish have also been installed to provide shade for the area. Other urban furniture such as litter bins have also been set up. The APB continues to pursue its objective of developing integration between the port and the city with these works, improving the environment and providing new public spaces. The budget for the works was €227,718.12 plus VAT. Copcisa was awarded the contract and the work began at the end of November.

Port-city

The APB improves Avenida Adolfo Suárez's cycle lane in the port of Palma

02/03/2024

The Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) is replacing the metal railings along the bike lane on Avenida Aldofo Suárez in the port of Palma to guarantee user safety and maintain the lane in a good state of repair. A total of 1,053 metres of railing will be renewed. These improvement works will be carried out between the 5th and 25th of March, both inclusive. The cycle lane will remain closed during this period. The work is divided into two sections. The first stretch covers the cycle lane from the APB building in the Moll Vell to the Cuesta del Gas. The second starts at the Cuesta del Gas and ends at the Anima Beach Palma restaurant in Portitxol. Thicorca Herrería y Construcción S.L. was awarded the renovation project by public tender at a cost of almost €300,000.

Port-city

The APB completes work on the Alcúdia port seafront promenade

29/02/2024

Over the last few weeks, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has completed the works on the Alcúdia port seafront promenade. The work involved the removal of one of the footbridges and the wooden pergola above the tourist office, which were part of this area. By knocking down these constructions, the beach will return to its natural state prior to this project, while maintaining the uniformity of the remaining pre-existing structures. At the same time, the second pergola in the middle of the promenade and the second footbridge at the end of the promenade have been renovated. Restoration work was also carried out on the wooden decking that runs along the promenade. The works took three months to complete after initiation in November 2023 and were tendered out to the company Amer e Hijos S.A. for €255,000.

Port-city

The APB awards Igy Gestora Marinas Spain the management contract for large yacht moorings in the Levante basin of Eivissa port

22/02/2024

The Board of Directors of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) agreed at yesterday's session held in Palma to grant the management concession for moorings of large vessels in the Levante basin of the port of Eivissa to Igy Gestora Marinas Spain, S.L. and to authorise the operation of these moorings, as well as the services building located in es Martell. The same agreement approved by the Board of Directors delegates the approval of the construction project that will carry out the initial project presented by Igy Gestora Marinas Spain in this public tender, taking into account the considerations introduced during the awarding process and included in the conditions accepted by the licensee. Es Martell building The new contract includes the management of 42,152 square metres of surface area - 38,852 m2 of water surface and 2,745 m2 of land - and two mooring lines, a 240 metre line on the Levante quay and another 115 metre line on the east side of the counter-quay, popularly known as es Martell, for the mooring of vessels between 20 and 40 metres in length. The ground floor of the es Martell building will also form part of the concession, measuring some 600 square metres, which may be used for commercial premises for those activities authorised by the APB in accordance with the DEUP (Delimitation of Port Areas and Uses) (mixed use 2: commercial, nautical sports and complementary use). Roof and stairs of the building will continue to be open to the public as before, as will the quay area, where no enclosures or partitions are planned to prevent pedestrian use. The maximum concession period will be twelve years. The initial occupancy fee was 408,019.20 euros per year, to which Igy Gestora Marinas Spain has added an improvement corresponding to 1,325,000 euros, in addition to the 4% activity fee.

Socio-economic development

The Board of Directors appoints Toni Ginard as new director of the Balearic Islands Port Authority

07/02/2024

Following a motion by President Javier Sanz, the Board of Directors of the Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) agreed this afternoon to appoint Toni Ginard López as the new director of the public body that manages the Balearic archipelago's ports of general interest. Toni Ginard was born in Palma in 1974 and graduated in Civil Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Until today, he has been Head of the Planning and Infrastructures Department of the APB since 2021. However, he has worked in different positions related to the planning and development of projects and infrastructures at the APB since 2005, where he has been responsible for several organisational units. Throughout his extensive professional career at APB, Ginard has led more than 500 port infrastructure projects, as well as port-city transformation and interaction projects. Until recently, he has been in charge of Palma's promenade remodelling project, which represents a major transformation of urban space in Spanish ports, as well as in the Balearic capital. Other notable projects of his are the remodelling of the promenade of the port of Eivissa, the Botafoc Maritime Station, also in the port of Ibiza, the remodelling of the port-city area in the port of La Savina, and the transformation of the seafront and the port of Molinar. The latter was awarded the Albert Serratosa 2021 "City and Territory" prize by the Association of Civil Engineers of Spain and a special mention from ARCA (Association of Civil Engineers of Spain), in 2018. Currently, Ginard also works as the vice-dean of the Association of Civil Engineers of the Balearic Islands, which he has been linked to since 2014. Besides his extensive experience in engineering and port planning, having spent more than 23 years as a full-time professional, Ginard has participated as a speaker at more than 20 congresses. He is also the author of several articles in specialised engineering journals, as well as co-author of two books on port-related subjects dedicated to the Mallorcan engineers Pere Garau and Eusebi Estada. Toni Ginard replaces Jorge Nasarre, who has stepped down as director of the APB after almost three years in office.

Environment and CSR Port-city Technology and innovation Transport and infrastructure Socio-economic development

The air quality sensors used in the APB’s ports are declared the most precise on the market

22/01/2024

The equipment used to measure air quality at the five major ports managed by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) was declared the most precise on the market in the 2023 AIRLAB Microsensors Challenge. This aim of this event, which is organised by Airparif, is to evaluate and compare the performance of different multi-pollutant sensors under actual conditions of use. In this fourth edition of the Challenge, the equipment manufactured by Kunak, which is installed in the ports of Palma, Alcúdia, Mahon, Ibiza and La Savina, stood out in particular for its capacity to precisely measure two of the pollutants that play a key role in air quality: ozone (O3) and fine particulates (PM₂). The APB has installed a total of 25 measuring stations at the five major ports it manages. With the aim of improving air quality, the monitoring system and smart environmental platform provide data on air pollution in real time. In line with the principle that “what cannot be measured, cannot be managed”, since 2016 the APB has been working to improve a digital platform that now has the capacity to provide real-time air quality data, as well as alerts to identify pollution hotspots at the five major ports it manages. The platform also makes it possible to calculate the back trajectories of any pollutants identified by the sensors. Other accolades The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) cited the air quality monitoring and improvement project at the APB’s ports as a successful case study at the 13th edition of Med Days, an international conference that took place in October 2023. The same project also won the international award for the best air quality monitoring network at the 2022 edition of the Air Quality and Emissions Show (AQE), which took place in Telford in the United Kingdom. The AQE is one of the world’s leading trade fairs in the field of air quality and industrial emissions.

Environment and CSR

The works to protect the foundations of the Botafoc dock in the Port of Ibiza are finished in record time

17/01/2024

Today, the works to repair and modify the elements protecting the foundations of the Botafoc dock in the Port of Ibiza were officially declared complete, 16 months ahead of schedule. This morning, the APB carried out the final examination of the works, which were then handed over to an inspector from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. The works commenced in November 2022, with the construction of concrete blocks in the Port of Alicante, which were then transported to the Port of Ibiza and laid in May 2023. The final stage of the works came to an end in November last year. According to the timetable set out in the agreement, the works were scheduled to finish in March 2025. The works mark the completion of the project to reinforce the Botafoc dock, which had a final tender budget of 11.3 million euros. The works were completed 16 months ahead of schedule. Reinforcement of the dock Over the past few years, a certain amount of damage to the main mantle of the bank of the Botafoc dock had been observed and subsequently confirmed via the underwater inspections carried out as part of the APB’s five-yearly inspection programme. The aim of the project was to repair and modify the dock’s three constituent sections (base, trunk and head) in order to make it resistant to the current maritime climate, which may have changed since the original maritime climate study was carried out. For the base section, the work consisted of repositioning the six-tonne blocks that sit on the current crown of the bank. Some 1.5 tonnes of rockfill were placed onto this base in order to maintain the slope of the filter formed by the previous blocks. Lastly, a two-layer sloping mantle of 20-tonne blocks was added on top of the previous materials. In the trunk and head section, the original three-tonne blocks were repositioned and a main mantle, comprised of 20-tonne blocks, was laid on top of them. Owing to the nature of the works and the number of elements involved, the project was implemented using sea-based resources: the blocks were made in the Port of Alicante and transported by ship to the Port of Ibiza, in order to prevent any impacts on road traffic and land-based port operations. Botafoc dock The Botafoc dock, 515 metres long and with a maximum draught of 20 metres, has a submerged bank of cubic concrete blocks, formed by 12 concrete caissons. The crown wall with a waveguard is 7 metres above sea level. It is connected to the town by a 1,200 metre-long road. This has increased safety, because the unloading of oil products can now be carried out at a greater distance than before the dock was built. This also allows large cruise ships to dock there.

Transport and infrastructure