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The port of Santander exceeds its historical record in freight traffic and announces investments in infrastructure for more than 150 million euros. Martin and Lopez Marcano have described as "magnificent" the result of 2021 and have assured that "the challenge now is to reach seven million tons". Santander 18-01-22. After the closing of the year 2021, the president of the Port Authority of Santander, Francisco Martin, has described today as "magnificent" traffic data and has attributed this "great result" to public-private collaboration because "our operators and our employees have had to continually reinvent themselves to turn this health and economic crisis, the arrival of Brexit and the news about the increase in freight rates in an opportunity to strengthen our traffic and not be affected by the ups and downs of the markets." Martin said he was "really satisfied and grateful" for the effort made because "it is not only an excellent result", but also "an injection of energy and positivity in a period in which the pandemic has been responsible for increasing economic uncertainty". The maximum leader of the port has also explained that these results are the evidence that "we have known to reconvert the collapse of goods like coal or cement, fundamental for us in 2005, in a spectacular increase of the general cargo". The president of the APS has also recalled that the port represents almost 13% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Cantabria so "we will continue working" to ensure "the increase of traffic and the improvement of our facilities with major investments" in works such as the Maliaño docks, the container terminal, the fertilizer terminal, the automobile silo, Raos 9 or Raos 6. Martin has also stressed that "the goal now is to reach seven million tons". For his part, the Industry Councilor and vice-president of the port, Javier López Marcano, assured that "surpassing the figures of 2021" is a "difficult but very interesting" challenge that will make the work "very attractive". Marcano has also referred to other intermodality projects related to the port and has highlighted the development of La Pasiega whose approval will take place "in the months of February and March". The counselor has advanced that "if everything goes according to plan" the next step will be approval, acquisition or expropriation of the land "for which there is already an amount earmarked in the General Budget" and in 2023 "we will see machines working" in La Pasiega thus fulfilling the parliamentary commitment. Traffic balance The APS has closed 2021 with a result of 6,731,713 tons, compared to the 6,636,688 tons that were accounted for in 2005, year, so far, record in the history of the port. Of this figure, 3,549,341 tons correspond to solid bulks, 199,714 to liquid bulks and 2,982,658 to general cargo. Among the traffics that have contributed to achieve this absolute record of goods in the port we can highlight mainly: -In liquid bulks: molasses and other oil products. -In solid bulks: manganese, sodium carbonate, iron and steel products and cement. -In general cargo: soda ash, RoRo cargo and other general cargo. As for Ro-Ro (Ro-Ro) traffic, it has gone from 2,152,256 tons in 2020 to 2,418,613 tons in 2021, experiencing an increase of 12.4%. Containers, on the other hand, have increased by 43.9% compared to 2020, going from 26,148 TEUs (20-foot containers) in 2020 to 37,615 TEUs in 2021. Main works and projects planned The Port Authority, in keeping with its commitment not to fill the bay, has decided to grow upwards, as in the case of the vertical automobile silo, or towards La Pasiega, while waiting for Cantabria to join the Atlantic corridor through the Basque Y. During the next months, the port will receive more than 150 million euros of public-private investment in works such as the fertilizer and container terminals; as well as the new ferry terminal, the automobile silo, the Maliaño, Raos 6 or Raos 9 docks, essential infrastructures for the change of model that is going to take place in the port, coordinated with the economic and industrial future of Cantabria. In addition to the objectives of growth through the rationalization of space and the commitment to intermodality, there are others related to sustainability, R+D+i or port-city that also imply important investments to improve the quality of life of both the neighbors near the port and the rest of the citizens of Cantabria. APS, which represents 11% of employment in Cantabria and almost 13% of its GDP, thus tries to orient its investments to combine both the improvement of port infrastructures to improve the service to its customers and the contribution to the sustainable development of the Autonomous Community. Outstanding investments: Raos Pier 9. 30 M€ With this new infrastructure, 291 meters long, APS intends to improve its competitiveness by extending its berthing length to provide services to deepsea vessels and increase its logistic surface. Tendered and in awarding process. Raos Pier 6. 11 M € Through this construction, 200 meters long, APS will improve its services in public docks for bulk and general cargo vessels. Preliminary studies have been carried out and the construction project will be put out to tender in the coming weeks. First phase of the vehicle storage silo in Raos and expansion. 67 M€ The silo construction works are scheduled to last 18 months and are being carried out by the joint venture made up of the companies INDUSTRIAS METÁLICAS ANRO, S.L. - API MOVILIDAD S.A. and ARRUTI SANTANDER, S.A., for an award amount of 15,960,083.64 € plus VAT. This is a vertical infrastructure for vehicle storage to increase the capacity of the automobile terminal, which is currently close to reaching its maximum capacity limit and with no other viable alternative for expansion due to APS's commitment not to carry out landfills in the Bay. At present, 50% of this first phase has been completed and is expected to be operational in September. In the next few months, the APS will put out to tender the expansion to three more plants for an amount of 48 million euros. Maliaño wharf, sections 1-4. 19 M€ After the demolition of the current quay, in an advanced state of deterioration, a new quay will be built to recover a berthing length of 375 m and 8 m draught, with the possibility of increasing it to 9.5 m by dredging, should it be necessary in the future. The dock will allow the berthing of ro-ro cargo ships and ro-pax ships (ferries), and occasionally, also cruise ships. This action will allow the transfer of the regular ferry lines to the new pier of section 1-4 of Maliaño, freeing the block pier and the maritime station for the berthing of cruise ships. The new infrastructure can also be used for the berthing of small inactive vessels at its southern end. At present, the demolition of the existing pier has been carried out and the piling of the new one will begin in the next few days. Renovation of double track of ffcc access to the harbor 4 M€ In February the renovation works of the Iberian gauge and metric gauge tracks of access to the port will be completed, transforming them into double Iberian gauge tracks and maintaining one of the tracks with 4 wires for the metric gauge. The renovation section is located between the limit of the service area and the access to the northern breakwater of Raos. Other investments (Puerto Ciudad): -Development of Varadero. -Demolition of Antonio López warehouses. -Transfer of the Gamazo warehouses to the ENAIRE Foundation to turn them into an Exhibition Hall and collaboration with the maintenance of the spaces. -Rehabilitation of the Embarcadero mansion and the Maritime Station. Outstanding projects: Transfer of the ferry terminal, LNG supply to ships and construction of Maliaño quay sections 1-4. The supply of LNG and the increase in the size of ships, in addition to the urban integration of the port, are some of the keys to the transfer of the ferry terminal from the Maritime Station to sections 1-4 of the Maliaño docks. The consortium formed by Puerto de Santander, Repsol LNG Holding, (RLH), ESK and Enagás has started the construction of an LNG supply facility whose works are expected to be completed by the end of 2022. Fertilizer terminal. The APS has awarded COBASA this terminal with an expected throughput of 120,000 tons/year. The work is underway, with a completion date of July 2022. It is located in the Central Breakwater of Raos and has an investment of 6 million euros. Container Terminal. After granting an administrative concession to NSCT Investments, the works will start at the beginning of February and will start operating in January 2023. The construction of the terminal will involve an investment of some 17 million euros and a further 19 million euros for the replacement of equipment over the duration of the concession.