The president of Puertos del Estado (State Ports Authority), José Llorca, today inaugurated the Annual Conference of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), held at the World Trade Center in Barcelona. This year's conference, entitled 'Ports in a changing climate, a changing world', will bring together leading representatives from the European maritime and port sector to discuss the role of ports in the global context of climate change.
Spain's privileged geographical position, located at the intersection of the main international maritime transport routes, and the rapid adaptation in recent years of its maritime infrastructures to the new requirements of global demand, with an installed capacity of one billion tons, places our country in the Top 10 of the world ranking in port infrastructure quality.
Given this favorable state of maritime infrastructure, Llorca stated in his address that “Spain is now primarily focused on land connectivity, particularly rail, improving both last-mile infrastructure to ports and general transport networks,” with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of land transport by “providing it with the necessary interoperability with European networks.” He also affirmed that “the Spanish Government is deeply committed to the development of the transport networks that form the core European network, and in particular, the Mediterranean Corridor, in order to improve connectivity for southern European ports serving European logistics.”.
Llorca specifically addressed the role of ports in the face of climate change and the threats it poses. “We cannot forget the consequences that climate change can have on our ports,” he said, mentioning rising sea levels, with their effects on infrastructure safety and port operations, and the increasing water temperature, which can alter water quality within the docks. Therefore, long-term port planning must consider the evolution of oceanographic and meteorological variables.
On the other hand, the president of Puertos del Estado (State Ports Authority) highlighted the consequences of Industry 4.0, based on the shift in the energy model with the complete electrification of transport modes using alternative energy sources and the full digitalization of processes. In this regard, and in line with the Valletta Declaration of last March, on the priorities of the European Union's maritime transport policy until 2020, Llorca advocated for competitiveness to address deglobalization through reduced logistics costs, decarbonization to tackle climate change, and digitalization as a central element of the new Industry 4.0, with significant implications for logistics organization. "We are not talking about a distant future, but about a clear reality in the next 5 to 8 years, to which we will have to adapt quickly if we don't want to be left out of the markets."
In the immediate future, he asserted, current maritime transport patterns and port operating conditions will change due to ship emissions controls starting in 2018; regulatory pressures regarding emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter; and social pressure at the port-city interface. In response, the gasification and electrification of ships will be promoted.
Specifically, Spanish ports already offer a 50% discount on port fees to vessels that use LNG as fuel, or that use gas in port for their auxiliary engines or connect to the electrical grid. “We are currently working on enabling the necessary infrastructure and regulatory changes to allow ships to be refueled with alternative fuels under market conditions, and on new discounts associated with emissions reductions above current limits, as well as on developing economic and fiscal incentives for demand.”.
Recently, Puertos del Estado, in conjunction with Spanish meteorological institutes, presented the study “Vulnerability of Spanish Ports to Climate Change,” the result of a series of research projects and within the framework of Spain’s climate change strategy. This work continues under the new “Climpact” project, which will focus on the impact of these changes on a number of Spanish port authorities selected as pilot ports, including Barcelona.
