Tag: Spain

The Government of Gibraltar published a strong protest on February 17, when the Spanish Navy entered the bounds of Gibraltar's maritime claims and commanded merchant vessels to leave Spanish waters. The Spanish vessel identified itself as 'Tornedo P44' and ordered a merchant ship to leave anchorage and depart Spain's territorial waters.

Spain announced that it will construct the second-largest marine national park in the Mediterranean, turning the Cabrera National Park area nine times larger and  taking the total area protected to 90,794 hectares. The park, located south of Mallorca, will offer legal protection for marine life that is threatened, such as corals, dolphins and whales. 

EMSA informed that the Spanish maritime safety agency SASEMAR is using its Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) in the southern province of Huelva, for identifying and monitoring oil spills, as well as for additional assistance during search and rescue missions. 

UN Refugee Agency published a report according to which apporximately 2.275 people died or went missing in attempts to cross the Mediterranean in 2018, despite an important decrease in arrivals reaching European shores. Overall, 139.300 refugees and migrants arrived in Europe, marking the lowest number in five years. The latest 'Desperate Journeys' report, released by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, says six lives were lost on average every day.

The Hypatia de Alejandría de Baleària, the first ship powered by LNG in the Mediterranean, made its first commercial trip between Barcelona and Palma. The ferry arrived on January 27 at the port of Barcelona, ​​coming from Venice. The ship is 186.5 meters in length and can accommodate 880 people, as well as 166 vehicles. In addition to Hypatia de Alejandría, its twin Marie Curie will follow.

The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras will cooperate with IBM on Tradelens, the digital platform based on blockchain that IBM and Maersk have developed. By the end of 2018, over 100 organizations and 20 port operators have joined Tradelens. The TradeLens project is a technological solution developed by IBM and Maersk that allows the blockchain to be applied to the global supply chain.

Stena Line, a Swedish ferry company, launched its first next generation RoPax vessel at the Avic Weihai Shipyard in China. The first new vessel, to be named Stena Estrid, sailed for the first time on January 16. The vessel is to start service on the Dublin to Holyhead route in early 2020. 

The European Commission has proposed, in two separate decisions, that Italy and Spain align their taxation of ports with State aid rules. The Commission remains committed to ensure a level playing field across the EU in this key economic sector.

Valencia is to become the first port in Europe to use hydrogen energy to reduce the environmental impact of its operations. A machine of the type reach stacker will handle containers and a terminal tractor for ro-ro operations will be the first machines powered by hydrogen batteries that will operate in real conditions in the harbour. 

A pilot project from big data and fleet management specialist is being conducted, aimed at providing better overview of traffic. The project is a collaboration of Traxens with the MSC Terminal Valencia, the Port Authority at the Port of Valencia and Fundacion Valenciaport using the IoT project.