News APB | Ports de Balears

The Official State Gazette publishes the APB’s 2012 Financial Statements which show profits of €14.4 million

17/09/2013

Yesterday, the Spanish Official Gazette published the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands’ 2012 Financial Statements, which showed profits of €14.4 million and a turnover of €59.5 million. These statements were audited by the State Comptroller’s Office with no reservations. Looking to the future, the APB’s investment plan includes a budget of €33.7 million for 2014. Priorities at the Port of Palma include the extension of the berthing line at the West Breakwater to cater for large cruise vessels, and redefining the surface layout of the Poniente Quays to improve the services offered to customers. Investment priorities at the Port of Ibiza centre on redesigning the port seafront, and developing and improving the commercial quays. Finally, investment at the Port of Mahon has been assigned to the dredging work, building the Cós Nou road, and constructing a dolphin for cruise vessels to berth at on the Passenger Quay. The 2014 investment plan took into account the reduction in port charges announced by the APB a few months ago which aimed to cut costs in the logistics chain and in turn encourage a decrease in the prices of basic consumer goods as a result of lower transport costs. Accordingly, the forecast budget for 2014 reflects a 30% reduction in passenger charges and an additional 5% in the goods charge (this charge was put down 5% in July 2012) which aim to boost the Balearic Islands’ economy. The 2014 budget also includes the lower charges announced by the Spanish Development Minister, Ana Pastor, totalling 5% of the basic amounts of the main port use charges and approximately 8.5% of the occupancy charge.

The Port of Alcudia welcomes its second cruise ship this year, the Prinsendam

15/09/2013

Today, the Port of Alcudia played host to the first call of the Prinsendam, the second cruise ship to put in at the Majorcan port this year. The vessel’s first visit was marked by the traditional exchange of plaques between the ship’s Captain, Tim Roberts the Head of the Port of Alcudia, Joan Gili the Mayor of Alcudia, Coloma Terrasa, and the Manager of the Miguel Puigserver shipping agency Toni Horrach.

Official reception for the MV Voyager at the Port of Palma

10/09/2013

An official reception was held today at the APB for the cruise ship, the MV Voyager, to mark its first call at the Port of Palma. The APB Chairman, José María Urrutia, presented the ship’s captain with the traditional commemorative plaque to mark the event. The reception was also attended by representatives from the vessel´s agent, Transcoma.

The Port of Alcudia welcomes The World cruise ship

08/08/2013

Today, the Port of Alcudia welcomed the 196 metre -long The World cruise ship, which has a displacement of 43,000 tonnes and carries an average of 125 to 200 passengers. This residential yacht is a floating community made up of millionaire passengers who have bought or rented one of the ship’s 165 private apartments. To mark the yacht’s first call at the Port of Alcudia, a ceremony to exchange the traditional commemorative plaques was held on board in which the APB’s Director, Jorge Nasarre, presented the ship’s Captain with a plaque to commemorate the event. The official reception was also attended by the Mayor of Alcudia, Coloma Terrassa, as well as by other members of the local council and representatives of the shipping agent, Lantimar.

The Port of Palma launches new electric car hire service for cruise passengers

31/07/2013

This season, the Port of Palma has launched a new electric car hire service for cruise passengers visiting the city of Palma and the surrounding areas. The Port Authority Chairman, José Mª Urrutia, presented this new service to the media today, which is offered by Hertz in the Pelaires gardens, located opposite the Passenger Terminal No. 2 at the Port of Palma. Urrutia explained that this initiative comes under the APB’s objective to promote public and private partnerships, and falls in line with its Green Port environmental policy, thus “contributing to sustainability and improving the environment in ports”. In turn, José María Pastor, the Hertz representative on the Balearic Islands, highlighted the popularity of this type of vehicles among cruise passengers who “at the end of the day’s hire ask whether they will find the same [electric car hire] service at their next port of call”. The Deputy Mayor of the Palma de Majorca Tourism Department, Álvaro Gijón, also pointed out the incentives and facilities offered by the City Council as part of its commitment to sustainable mobility, such as the parking fee exemption for electric vehicles in Palma’s controlled parking zones, and the battery charging stations that are being fitted throughout the city. Finally, the Regional Minister of Economy and Competitiveness, Joaquín García, pointed to the service as “another step forward” in the “clear and wholehearted” commitment to working hand-in-hand with the different authorities on the sustainable mobility policies that are being implemented in the Balearic Islands.

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands announces the 4th Balearic Island port and lighthouse painting and photography competition

26/07/2013

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has announced the 4th Balearic Island public interest port and lighthouse painting and photography competition in conjunction with the Palma de Majorca Fine Arts Society. The competition is open to all artists and photographers. The subject matter must be related to Balearic Islands’ lighthouses and the ports of Palma, Alcudia, Mahon, Ibiza and La Savina, which are all managed by the APB. There are three different categories to share out the prize money of almost €8,000 which has been put up by the APB: watercolour, other painting techniques and photography. The entries must be presented from 15th-31st October at the APB ports of Palma, Alcudia, Mahon, Ibiza or La Savina. A shortlist will then be put together, based on artistic quality and presentation. The selected works will be exhibited in different places or rooms which are yet to be established. The competition rules are available at www.portsdebalears.com.

Tender put out to construct a dolphin at the Port of Maó for large cruise vessels

25/07/2013

The APB has put out a public tender to construct a dolphin to extend the Passenger Quay’s Poniente berth at the Port of Maó so as to adapt the port’s facilities to the needs of the new cruise vessels that call at the Minorcan capital. The current berthing face of the Passenger Quay extension is approximately 176 metres long. This is not long enough for this type of vessels, given that the cruise ships scheduled to berth on this quay are over 200 metres long. This means that a considerable part of the vessels berthed there do not rest against the quay. In the light of this, the APB has planned the construction of a dolphin on this quay to improve berthing conditions, via a public tender for the work to extend the Passenger Quay’s Poniente berth at the Port of Maó. The budget for this improvement is €589,266.25.

Marina sa Riba set to manage the moorings for megayachts over 60 metres long at the Port of Ibiza

24/07/2013

The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has granted a temporary occupancy authorisation for the Levante Quay at the Port of Ibiza to the company Marina sa Riba, S.L. to manage moorings for yachts over 60 metres long. The authorisation has been granted for twelve months, which can be extended for a further year at most, until the public tender to grant a concession for these port spaces, which will be put out some time in the future, is resolved. Marina sa Riba was rated as the best proposal of the three companies that put in for the tender which was called last May by the APB’s Board of Directors. The aim of the tender is to strengthen the Port of Ibiza’s position in the megayacht market, and thus cater for existing demand on the island for large vessel moorings. With a total fee offered of €601,000 per year, and an investment proposal of approximately €500,000 in removable facilities, Marina sa Riba now manages, as of today, a surface area of over 24,000 m2, of which more than 22,000 m2 correspond to water surface. Large yachts are now able to berth at the Port of Ibiza’s Levante Dock thanks to the transfer of commercial port operations located in this area of the Port to the new Botafoc Quays which took place at the beginning of July.

The Port of Ibiza restricts parking at the Marina to promote pedestrianisation

05/07/2013

The Port of Ibiza is to introduce paid parking at the Marina to revitalise the area and promote pedestrianisation after reaching an agreement with the Town Council and taking into account the opinion and needs of residents and traders. Car park access will be controlled by an automatic barrier system which will subsequently allow cars to exit after they have paid the corresponding fee based on the time they have used the car park. In agreement with the Ibiza Town Council, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has approved tariffs of €1.20 per hour in low season and €2.40 per hour during the months of June, July, August and September. The APB-managed car park will have around one hundred spaces and will come into service during the month of July when the barriers and ticket machines are ready. Residents and traders Marina residents, defined by the Council according to the criteria established by the town hall, will be charged a special rate which will be the same as the tariff applied to residents in the town’s controlled parking zones. The APB will regulate the right to these special rates according to the resident census validated by the Town Council. In turn, traders and distributors registered by the APB will be given a certain amount of time without charge to unload and load goods to supply the Marina’s businesses. This scheme aims to increase vehicle turnover in a unique area linking the port and the town which this week ceased to handle domestic maritime traffic. This traffic has now been moved to the Botafoc Quays. After the removal of the Perspex fencing that separated the restricted area of the port from the town thus opening up pedestrian access to the sea, the APB has allocated one of the traffic lanes for parking to increase the amount of space solely for pedestrians on the quayside.

The Port of Ibiza’s Botafoc Quays come into service for domestic traffic

01/07/2013

The Port of Ibiza’s new Botafoc Quays came into service today to handle goods vehicles and regular ferry passenger traffic thus complying with the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands’ (APB) commitment to divert heavy port vehicle traffic away from the city centre on 1st July. At 10.30am, passengers on the Baleària line vessel Federico García Lorca coming from Palma, were the first to use the Botafoc Quays’ facilities. The new port facility has a temporary passenger terminal which will provide services for operators and users until the permanent terminal has been built. The Botafoc Quays have a bus service, coach stops, taxi ranks and a pleasure boat service which connects the city centre with this new port area. Fencing removed Implementation of the new quays has immediately freed the Marina area of heavy port vehicle traffic which was one of the main objectives of moving port activities to the Botafoc Quays as well as providing Port of Ibiza users with modern, comfortable, safe facilities. As a result, work began first thing this morning to remove the Perspex fencing which restricted access to the port’s premises for safety reasons, thus opening up pedestrian access to the quayside. In his blog, José Mª Urrutia, the APB Chairman, assured that “the first of July 2013 is a date which will become a milestone in the Port of Ibiza’s history”. According to Urrutia, when referring to the diversion of port traffic away from the Marina, “this project was urgent and is symbolised today with the long awaited removal of the Perspex fencing”. Urrutia also justified the move to the Botafoc Quays, whose services for port users are still not 100% ready, by stating that “not using a piece of infrastructure that is finished is not acceptable from an economic and social viewpoint”.

The APB awarded the Gold Shield by the Felipe Moreno Tourism School

28/06/2013

The APB has been awarded the Felipe Moreno University Tourism School’s Gold Shield to mark its contribution to cruise tourism. The APB Chairman, José Mª Urrutia, was given this year’s top prize by the School’s director, Felipe Moreno, at the academic year’s closing ceremony held last night at the Sant Francesc school in Palma de Majorca. Urrutia thanked the School for the award and highlighted the hard work put in by APB staff to win this prize.

The Botafoc Quays in Ibiza are handed over to the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands

18/06/2013

The new Botafoc Quays at the Port of Ibiza, which are soon to come into service, were handed over yesterday to the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands. Yesterday afternoon, nearly seven months after the work was finished, a ceremony to hand over the quays was held and was attended by the Development Ministry inspector, the Port Authority Chairman, José Mª Urrutia, and representatives of the consortium made up of Ferrovial Agromán, S.A., Construcciones y Estudios, S.A. and Construcciones Llull Sastre, S.A. The total tender cost of the new infrastructure, which consisted of building a surface area of 65,000 m2 and two 220 metre-long transversal quays, was €67 million. The new Botafoc Quays are equipped to cater for regular ferry passenger traffic and general Ro-ro cargo and ensure safe operations in a new area away from the city centre. The APB aims to move commercial traffic to this new area in the Port of Ibiza on 1st July, thus freeing up the Levante Dock. A ferry terminal and fixed gangways for passengers to embark and disembark are being built on this new area, which was reclaimed from the sea. Meanwhile, passengers will be catered for at a temporary terminal. The new Botafoc Quays will feature areas for embarking and pre-embarking goods and vehicles, as well as car parks for cars, coaches, taxis and buses.