Martin and Calvet meet in Santander to share experiences on innovation and sustainable mobility
During their meeting, the presidents of the Port Authorities of Santander and Barcelona, have addressed the need for the logistics-port sector to be at the forefront in energy sustainability and innovation.
Thus, they have highlighted some lines of action in which both are working, such as the promotion of railroads, the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or the logistics needs of the automotive industry.
Santander 21-01-22. The president of the Port Authority of Santander, Francisco Martin, this morning received his counterpart from Barcelona, Damià Calvet, to show him the Cantabrian dock and share experiences on some of the projects in which both ports are working, especially those related to innovation and the promotion of energy and sustainable mobility.
Both leaders have referred to the railroad as one of the "unfinished business" in all the ports belonging to the Spanish State-owned Port System.
For the president of the APS, although the two infrastructures are "well above the average in rail freight transport", this is "clearly insufficient" if the objective is to reduce emissions and commit to sustainable mobility "in line with European recommendations". For Martin is "difficult to understand" that road transport is "more economical" and claimed the need for Santander can be connected to the Basque Y "a second outlet for the goods claimed by our operators".
For his part, Damià Calvet recalled that the promotion of rail transport "is part of the strategic agenda of the Port of Barcelona. We have accelerated work to build new rail access to the port and our new rail hub, which will allow us to place the rail share at the level of the major European ports. Currently, 16% of the containers that pass through the Port of Barcelona and 40% of the vehicles move by rail but it is necessary to continue to increase this share in order to, thanks to intermodality, reduce the carbon footprint of our logistics chains".
Martín and Calvet also alluded to the need for the ports to be at the forefront in terms of energy sustainability and innovation, which is why they opted for the development of logistics for the supply of LNG to ships, something that both ports are working on.
In the case of Santander, the consortium formed by the Port of Santander, Repsol LNG Holding (RLH), ESK and Enagás has started the construction of a facility for the supply of LNG to ferries, whose works are expected to be completed by the end of 2022. An action that has a European aid within the CEF-Transport program, specifically in the call Projects on the Comprehensive Network (CEF-T-2019-1-AP-TRANSPORT) / Maritime Ports and is part of the LNGhive2 strategy promoted by Puertos del Estado.
The Port of Barcelona, for its part, supplied more than 65,000 m3 of LNG to ships during 2021, 66% more than the previous year, thus placing it at the forefront of European ports that use this cleaner fuel. During 2022, the Haugesund Knutsen ship, which is currently under construction and has a capacity of 5,000 m3, is scheduled to enter the port. This ship is included in the LNGhive 2 Barcelona project, financed by the European Union, in which the Port of Barcelona participates as a partner, along with Enagás and Knutsen, among others.
The objective of both institutions is to "minimize dependence on oil and mitigate the environmental impact of port shipping, while being more efficient and effective in their operations".
Both ports also share experience in other innovation projects such as those related to digital twins or artificial intelligence, which are essential to compete globally in port operations in the immediate future, optimizing and making maritime-port activities more sustainable.
In this sense, both Martin and Calvet also referred to the importance of inter-port and collaborative initiatives such as Ports 4.0, which is essential to promote innovation projects around challenges of common interest for several ports.
Likewise, the presidents of both ports, both coachmen, shared the challenges posed, at present, by the new logistic needs of the automotive industry, especially with regard to electric cars.
Regarding Port-City relations, the presidents of the ports of Santander and Barcelona stressed the importance of opening these infrastructures to the cities and announced important projects. Among them Calvet referred to the creation of a second headquarters of the Liceu on port land and Martin to the forthcoming presentation of a master plan, prepared by the consulting firm ARUP, which contains a new vision and management of the uses of port land that will allow a major redevelopment of the waterfront.