News APB | Ports de Balears

Professional fishing in the ports of the Balearic Islands

18/08/2016

In all the ports there are dedicated areas for professional fishing. At present, in the ports that are managed by the Balearic Port Authority (APB) there are 16,500 square metres dedicated to fish auctions, the drying of fishing nets, storage and buildings of the Fishermen's Association and other services. The relationship of the APB with the Fishermen's Association is very close and they are usually represented at the Ports and Navigation Council. According to data of 2014 from the Federation of Fishermen's Associations of the Balearic Islands, the ports have 171 commercial fishing vessels: 43 in Alcudia, 39 in Ibiza, 37 in Palma, 32 in Mahon and 20 in Savina. A very important part (129) are dedicated to small scale fishing technics and 19 to trawling (6 of these are in Palma). The rest of the vessels are dedicated to other minority modalities. With respect to fish catches, the vessels of the five ports exceed 3,175 tons. The majority are fish with over 2,500 tons of which 350 are molluscs and 240 crustaceans. The fish production figures show, however, that this activity has reduced its contribution to the Balearic economy. According to data from the Directorate General of Marine Affairs, fish production represents around 20 million euros, although between 2013 and 2014 the total quantity was reduced by 5.8%. The future for the fishing industry will involve changes because the local Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries has presented a new "fishing tourism" decree with measures to diversify the industry. This opens new business possibilities for fishermen with prospects of improving income. You can see the complete report in this video on YouTube.

The ship repairing and maintenance companies are at the head of the Balearic sector

16/08/2016

One of the most promising economic activities in the Balearic Islands is the repairing and maintenance of ships. The Balearic Islands' Port Authority dedicates 140.000 square metres of surface to this activity, which generates more than 450 million euros every year. There are more than 450 companies and 2.300 professionals of this sector operating at the ports managed by the Balearic Island's Port Authority, including indirect jobs. The greatest activity related to the repairing and maintenance of ships is concentrated in Palma's Port, considered a reference for the sector and competing with Barcelona and the main ports of France and Italy. Astilleros de Mallorca and STP (Port Technical Services) are some of the repairing companies that have their headquarters at the capital's port, but there are also small companies and freelancers working at the five ports managed by the APB. At these ports, all type of maintenance, repairing and even restoring works are carried out, including all those related to the engines, electrical and electronic works. The group of companies based at the Balearic ports provide their services to approximately 2.000 ships of all types every year, including 120 considered "super yachts" (large ships). There are many ships coming from other ports which make a technical call at Palma's port. That is why the sector creates stable jobs throughout the year. For the prevention of pollution from this activity, the APB ensures the correct management of all residues generated by the activity of licensees offering repairing and maintenance services. In addition, this institution applies measures for the prevention of pollution: the work areas have a drainage network, decantation tanks, oily water collection or antipollution fences. The full article is available online on this video on Youtube.

The APB opens a tender process for the improvement works of Llebeig lighthouse

16/08/2016

The Balearic Islands' Port Authority (APB) has published the tender offer for the works that include the adaptation of the roof, lantern and annex storehouse of Llebeig lighthouse, in Dragonera island. The aim of the contract is the complete refurbishment of the annex storehouse, the restoration of the roof, facade painting and repair, repair works in the building, substitution of the lantern, treatment of the wood and ironwork, general cleaning and removal of the unusable material. The initial bidding budget is of 510.469,73. The procedure for the submission of offers is already open, and those companies interested can submit their offer until the 15th of September 2016 at 2:00 pm. The tender is available on the APB's e-office, on this link.

The ports of general interest of the Balearic Islands

16/08/2016

Palma, Alcudia, Ibiza, Mahon and La Savina are the ports of general interest managed by the Balearic Islands' Port Authority (APB).They are the five doorways that connect our island to the world and provide us with everything we need, from food, clothing or vehicles to materials for building houses, hospitals or schools. All the ports have the same mission but different characteristics. Palma's Port is the largest one and the with the highest traffic of both passengers and goods Alcudia's Port is essential for the communications between Majorca and Minorca, hence it has an important commercial and passenger activity and it has an important fishing dock Mahon's port is the second largest natural port of Europe and it receives especially cargo vessels, energy transportation ships and small and exclusive cruise ships Ibiza's Port is the connection with Formentera, and it receives almost all the provisions of the island and finally Savina's Port is the smallest and the most characteristic of all. The function of the Balearic Islands' Port Authority is to manage the facilities and port services and to ensure the goods and passengers traffic flow and comfort, as well as to invest in the environment in order to protect the marine ecosystem and manage the residues. The full article is available online on this video on Youtube.

Great activity at Palma's Port

12/08/2016

Palma's Port is the largest port managed by Ports of the Balearic Islands, so it concentrates much more services and activities than the rest of docks. The capital's port is especially known for its great sport nautical activity and for being the main destination for cruise ships. In addition, it is highly important for the residents of the island, as it is the port that provides them with most of the products needed in Majorca. The activity at Palma's Port is intense and regular: 24 hours a day 365 days a year. According to registered numbers, the port receives approximately 2.300.000 passengers every year including regular shipping lines and cruise ships, 170.000 passenger vehicles and 130.000 vehicles as goods, 3.000 merchant ships of 35 nationalities, 1 million tons of oil-bearing products, 200.000 tons of cement and 6.500.000 of diverse goods. Thus, port services are essential for managing all this activity from the different facilities for loading and unloading goods and the passengers flow from regular shipping lines and cruise ships, to, in the areas of the port, the public institutions that can be found here, like the territorial delegation of the National Agency of Meteorology, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres, the Customs administration, military government, National Police, Health Service and the offices of the Balearic Islands' Port Authority, among others. Other private institutions operate at the port, like those providing loading and unloading, tow and residue management services and other companies offering repairing, maintenance and diverse services offered at the port's facilities. The full article is available online on this video on Youtube.

La Savina, an essential port for the Balearic Islands

11/08/2016

La Savina's Port, in Formentera, is characterised for being the smallest port of those managed by the Balearic Islands' Port Authority. According to registered numbers, the traffic of passengers and ships is higher than in other larger ports. Every year, La Savina receives 1.700.000 passengers, most of whom travel in regular shipping lines only 800 of them travel on cruise ships. Thus, it is the Balearic port which registers the second highest traffic of passengers in regular shipping lines —Ibiza is the first one. Regarding the traffic of goods, it is an important port for residents and visitors of the island. La Savina's Port is the doorway of almost all the goods consumed in Formentera, so it is essential for maintaining the economic activity of the island and fulfilling its needs. A total of 200.000 tons of goods are unloaded at the port every year. The full article is available online on this video on Youtube.

The APB publishes the 2015 activity report

09/08/2016

The Balearic Islands' Port Authority has published the 2015 Annual Report and the Sustainability Report, which make an overview of the activity of the institution in the last year. These reports are also available online, on the APB's website, as part of the commitment to transparency of the institution regarding its management. These two documents reflect the financial situation, the technical features of the five ports of general interest (Palma, Alcudia, Mahon, Ibiza and La Savina) managed by the APB, the works or activities authorised to private individuals, the traffic statistics, the works on process or finished and the summary of investments, data of port use, regular shipping lines and port companies and services, as well as details of the APB's value creation towards its stakeholders. The APB is affiliated with the Ministry of Development, but it is closely tied to the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands. The Maritime Authority, the Central State Administration, State Ports and the main institutions of the islands, like the Government of the Balearic Islands, Island Councils and Palma City Council, as well as the Chambers of Commerce of the Balearic Islands, the business confederation CAEB, the Provincial Association of Enterprises of Balearic Maritime Activities (APEAM) and the trade unions (UGT) are represented in the APB's Board of Directors.

Ocibar will keep managing the moorings of Poniente dock in Ibiza

09/08/2016

The Balearic Islands' Port Authority (APB) has chosen the firm Ocibar, S.A. as the most favourable solution for the management of the moorings of Poniente dock at Ibiza's Port. Hence Ocibar S.A. will hold the license for two more years, with the possibility of extending the period for one more year. The granting was approved by the Board of Directors of the APB on the 29th of June and published today in the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE). The next step is to make the procedure prior to the definitive awarding of the license. Six offers were presented at this public tender, of which the one presented by OCIBAR S.A. was considered the most favourable solution by the APB. This offer complies with the requirement of keeping the current number of moorings (73) shorter than 15 metres, which are currently distributed in two floating pontoons, and at affordable prices for social sailing. OCIBAR S.A. will manage a total of 20.099 square metres of water surface at Ibiza's Port. The budget for the execution of the contract is of 1.157.383,26€ (VAT included), while the annual tax amounts to 1.877.607,75€.

New record of cruise passengers at Palma's Port

04/08/2016

Palma's Port has set a new record of cruise passengers, putting the number at 25.116 passengers in a day aboard seven cruise ships. Actually, there were eight cruise ships berthed at Palma's Port today: Navigator of the Seas, AIDABlu, Thomson Majesty, Thomson Spirit, Costa Fascinosa, Costa Diadema, MSC Fantasia and MSC Armonia. However, the latter has set sail in the early morning, so the passengers aboard are not included in the total of passengers who have passed through Palma's Port today. Palma is the base port of the cruise ships AIDABlu, Thomson Majesty and Thomson Spirit, which means that there have been both passenger embarkations and disembarkations.

The APB collaborates with the installation of the public Wi-Fi network in Palma

02/08/2016

The Balearic Islands' Port Authority (APB) has collaborated with the installation of the largest municipal and free Wi-Fi network in Europe, launched by Palma's city council in the city. The APB has selected the different locations at Palma's Port for the installation of the Wi-Fi antennas. Palma's mayor, José Hila, has announced that the project will cover the areas from the Conference Centre to Poniente dock, and that it is divided into three stages. The first one, already finished, provides wireless connection to the cruise mooring area of Palma's Port, to the port's terminals, Born and Sagrera promenades, part of Parc de la Mar and to the Moll Vell and Antoni Maura Avenue. The second and third stages are at a 60% and 70% of their execution, respectively. The second stage will cover from Paseo del Born up to West Dock the third one will cover Plaza de España Square, Plaza Mayor Square and the city's historic centre. 10 million devices connected every year It is estimated that the Wi-Fi network will provide coverage to more than 10 million users every year, a very high figure, as Mauricio Socias has explained, the general manager of Mallorca Wi-Fi, the company which has launched the project in cooperation with Palma's city council.

New regulatory procedure for the APB's moorings direct management

28/07/2016

The Balearic Islands' Port Authority (APB) has made public the new regulatory procedure governing, from now on, the provision of the direct management mooring service for non-professional recreational bots of a maximum of 8 metres long at the ports of general interest of the Balearic Islands. The change of procedure has been published in today's (28th of July) Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB). With this change, the APB aims at relieving the waiting list in view of the high demand of mooring requests and the limit of spaces available. At present, the waiting for a direct management mooring can be up to 7 or 8 years. In order to reduce this waiting time, the new procedure will not allow for a change of the boats' ownership. In addition, as a commitment to a transparent management, the waiting lists will be public from now on. Public waiting lists The waiting lists have been published by the Port Authority on its e-office. The lists will show the applications in submission order, together with the applicant's name and surname and the date of application. These lists will be automatically updated with each application, and biannually at the end of the periods for application renewal, that is, on the 1st and 15th of January and on the 1st and 15th of July of each year. The regulatory procedure sets out the assessment criteria, as the application order number in the waiting list does not automatically imply the provision of the mooring service. Non-transferrable ownership The provision of the mooring service is personal and non-transferrable inter vivos for an owner and for a specific boat. The change of ownership or ship implies the annulation of the authorisation and the abandonment of the mooring. The transfer will be exceptionally accepted in case of decease, within one year, prior certification of the right through the submission of the testament or last wills, and only when it is for the benefit of the mooring service management and provision. These updates will not imply an increase of taxes beyond the usual annual adjustments.

The APB ensures the moorings to the Molinar Yacht Club members and assumes the improvement works of the facilities

28/07/2016

The Balearic Islands' Port Authority (APB) will directly manage the 120 moorings that the Levante Molinar Yacht Club was granted at Palma's Port. The APB's main aim is to ensure and improve the service provision to current members with a mooring. The APB will also assume the improvement works of the facilities. This measure responds to the APB's decision, communicated to the club's executives, to deny the term and license extension. The APB considers that the extension project is not adequate, as it includes new land reclamations and generates a great number of larger new moorings. In addition, according to the APB, this project does not respond to the existing social demand, as it does not guarantee the continuity of social sailing, formed by small boats, or its integration in the urban and environmental setting. The APB has taken this measure in order to preserve the so-called social sailing, ensuring a better service provision than it has offered up to now, and due to the Molinar Yacht Club's manifest inability to assume the maintenance of the current maritime facilities, which has taken them to their current condition. Improvements at the port Conscious of the society's rejection of the extension project presented by El Molinar Club, the APB will assume the necessary improvements of the maritime facilities, respecting the idiosyncrasy of the neighbourhood and working in the setting port-city, giving continuity to the seaside promenade and eliminating barriers. Besides, in order to ensure the continuity of the Levante Molinar Yacht Club, the APB will assign part of the port public space to this entity —considered the oldest yacht club of the Balearic Islands—, so that it continues the nautical and social activity it has been carrying out for more than 90 years. The Molinar Yacht Club submitted the term and license extension application in 2014. This process falls within the framework of the modification of public licenses under the tenth transitional provision of the consolidated version of the Law of State Ports and the Merchant Navy, introduced by Law 18/2014. The license finishes in March 2018.