The Port of Santander opens a new Container Terminal thanks to Boluda Maritime Terminals.
With an investment of 20 million euros, this logistics platform represents a historic milestone that will provide the industry of Cantabria and the entire area of influence of the port (hinterland) with a practically complete catalog of services.
For the president of the Port Authority of Santander (APS), this infrastructure represents "the achievement of a long-awaited service actively sought by the port for more than 30 years, which will allow us to increase, in the first instance, in a million tons of traffic moved by the port".
Santander 30-03-23. The president of the APS, Francisco Martin, said this morning, during the opening ceremony of the container terminal, that "today is an important day" for the Port and for Cantabria, because "after three decades working for Santander to have container traffic" we have to thank the president of Boluda Corporación Marítima, Vicente Boluda "who has bet on us with an investment of twenty million euros in what is the main infrastructure of the Autonomous Community. Martín has also pointed out that Boluda Maritime Terminals Santander means "not only the increase of the traffic moved by the Port, in the first instance, in one million tons" but also that "it will serve to strengthen the economy of the Cantabrian companies, shortening the terms of their logistic chains and making them more competitive".
For his part, the regional president, Miguel Angel Revilla, has claimed the logistics center of La Pasiega and rail connections with Madrid and Bilbao as the "great solutions" of Cantabria and the Port of Santander.
Revilla has assured that La Pasiega, which will be under construction this year and in which there are nine companies interested in executing a project, "will be an extraordinary complement to the Port of Santander given the impossibility of filling more space in the Bay" and on the train with La Meseta, which currently has in execution the sections from Palencia to Osorno and the doubling of the track between Santander and Torrelavega, he is confident that before the end of the year the section from Osorno to Alar del Rey will also be under construction and, next year, the continuation to Reinosa.
Revilla has predicted a "great future" for the Port of Santander as soon as the important investments that are being carried out at the moment are completed. Among them, the container terminal, which is already a reality and, as he explained, will increase port traffic by one million tons per year and will allow the Port of Santander to exceed, "probably" this year, the historical record of 6.7 million in 2021.
Finally, the chief executive thanked Vicente Boluda for his commitment to the Autonomous Community through this work that will be a boost for the port and also for the exports of Cantabria, which "are going like a shot".
For his part, the president of Boluda Corporación Marítima, Vicente Boluda, has shown "his pride" for "participating in a new professional journey that will connect Cantabria with the world" by increasing the connections of the port of Santander "through the arrival and departure of goods in container ships, thus improving the logistics chain of the companies". The businessman has also assured that this investment will contribute to "the creation of quality jobs with a vision for the future in the region" and to the development of innovative solutions "that will help us to achieve efficiency and make Santander a benchmark enclave in port sustainability".
In addition, Boluda has emphasized "the lack of powerful rail corridors that vertebrate all Spain to achieve the full potential of our country" and has assured that "at least we will do our best to develop connections across the seas" as evidenced by the inauguration of this terminal.
The delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Ainoa Quiñones, stressed in her speech that "this container terminal begins a stage of greater momentum and economic development in the most important infrastructure we have, this Port of Santander with more than 150 years of history".
For the Government delegate "this inauguration has an essential protagonist without whom none of this would be possible, which is Mr. Vicente Boluda, president of Boluda Corporación Marítima" to whom she thanked "on behalf of the Government of Spain" a "fundamental" investment that will provide the industrial fabric of Cantabria "with a greater competitiveness in the market and that makes us have today a Port of Santander ready to face the challenges of the future".
The president of Puertos del Estado, Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena, said in his speech that "with this terminal, the port of Santander ends up consolidating its strategy of diversification of traffic towards general cargo, adding value to the logistics chain". He also stressed the importance of public-private collaboration in the development of port infrastructures. "Thus, according to the forecasts that have been transferred to us by the Port Authorities, for 2023 the external investment that we have planned in the Spanish ports for the year 2023 amounts to 1,506 million euros and the total for the period 2022-26 reaches 6,534 million, a figure that clearly exceeds that of public investment."
Likewise, the Councilor of Industry and Vice President of the APS, Javier López Marcano, stressed that the new container terminal we are inaugurating today "will mean a before and an after, and will mark the beginning of a new stage for the port of Santander."
"We are sure that the port of Santander, which broke all traffic records in 2021 by moving 6.7 million tons, and in 2022 came very close with 6,411,631 tons, will reach unknown levels of goods movement in the short term," he said.
This in turn, he added, will be reflected in the growth of exports and the strengthening of the presence of our companies and our products abroad and, by extension, in the internationalization of our economy.
"We start from magnificent figures," said the counselor, to recall that Cantabria exported products last year for an amount of 3,510.2 million euros, representing an increase of 18.3% over the previous year, and in 2022 were 2,967.2 million euros, 20.4% more than in 2021.
"I would like to congratulate Vicente Boluda for this dream come true that will act as an engine and revulsive the regional economy and industry," he concluded.
First stopover
The ISABELLA B, one of the latest generation feeder vessels in the Boluda Lines fleet, inaugurated the terminal's berthing line on the 29th at 5pm.
Coinciding with the event, the container ship made nearly 200 unloading movements since 11 am.
It is worth mentioning that the vessel can handle 45' HCPW equipment in all positions and is also equipped with more than 250 reefer connections.
Boluda Maritime Terminals Santander
Boluda Maritime Terminals currently has nine marine terminals along the Spanish coast. Last February it started a new service in Arrecife, and with the closing of its works in Santander, it incorporates more than 60,000 square meters of facilities in the Cantabrian region.
Boluda Maritime Terminals Santander's commitment is to be able to maintain a minimum annual import and export traffic of at least 35,000 TEUs during the first five years of the concession and, after that year, of 44,823 TEUs per year.
Construction and investment
As planned, the logistics platform has completed its construction and entered into service in the first quarter of 2023.
In 2020, the Board of Directors of the Santander Port Authority awarded the concession for the works executed by Dragados and the operation of the terminal to Boluda Maritime Terminals.
The project, which has involved an investment of nearly 20 million euros in civil works, installations, construction and the purchase of machinery, has been developed with a strong focus on sustainability and environmental efficiency. Among the machinery incorporated for the development of operations are eco-reach stackers and electric cranes. During construction, solar panels were installed to power the offices and the access control system. In addition, automatic doors have been installed at the terminal's entry and exit points to enable efficient access management.
The logistics platform occupies an area of 67,000 square meters and has a berthing line of 472 meters of quay.