The President of Puertos del Estado visits the Port of Seville to assess the development of its strategic projects
• M Rodríguez Dapena supported plans to encourage rail transport in the port of Seville, as well as move forward on its digitization and synchromodality.
21-03-2022 The President of Puertos del Estado, M Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena, visited the Port of Seville today and met with the President of the Sevilla Port Authority, M Rafael Carmona, and with the Director of the Port, M Ángel Pulido, to learn first-hand about their strategic projects and their state of play, with a view to speed up procedures and make progress in their development. The three main lines of action assessed were the rearrangement of the Port of Seville with the construction of the new terminal for bulks in the southern area and the launch of the urban-port district, the optimization of the waterway, and the digital transformation.
During the visit, the President of Puertos del Estado also reviewed the progress of the 2025 Strategic Plan with the Seville Port Authority’s management team. In particular, they addressed the uniqueness of the Port of Seville as an inland seaport that allows to introduce cargo by sea in the territory and reduce CO2 emissions from road traffic. In addition, they discussed the actions promoted by the Seville Port Authority to strengthen port facilities as a multimodal logistics platform in southern Spain. These include the new direct rail access to the port, with a €30M+ investment, the launch of a second Logistics Activities Zone and the use of new technologies for the management of maritime and rail traffic.
In this regard, M Rodríguez Dapena paid special attention to the presentation of the Ferroport System project. With this pioneering system at national level, connected with the general rail network, the Port of Seville automates railway management and operations. This initiative, with a €2.3M investment co-financed by the European Union, facilitates the exchange of information and allows time and costs savings in the transport of goods by rail.
In connection with this project, the president of Puertos del Estado expressed his interest in organizing a Rail Transport in Spanish Ports Day in Seville. This will allow to present this smart system and will also address issues such as digitization and real-time coordination of the different modes of transport that come together in a port - ships, trains and trucks.
M Rodríguez Dapena also learnt about the environmental strategy promoted by the Port Authority of Seville. The management team explained to the President that the Port Authority recently received the Ecoports Environmental Management Certificate issued by the European Maritime Ports Organization (ESPO), as well as the recognition ‘Working with nature’ by the World Association of Navigation Infrastructure (PIANC) for combining the improvement of navigation with the preservation of the Guadalquivir estuary.
Later, a meeting with more than 30 representatives from the Port Community of Seville was held at the Galia Puerto Business Center. The meeting was also attended by the Board of Directors of ProSevillaPort, the association of companies for the promotion of this infrastructure. The current state and future prospects of the national port system was discussed in the meeting. In addition, different representatives shared with M Rodríguez Dapena their views and concerns regarding the sector.
Following the meeting, the authorities visited the port facilities and the Batan logistics district -where the container terminal, the railway and the ZAL are located-, the Astilleros industrial estate and the Free Zone, and made a stop at the lock, the sea gate to Seville.
According to M Rodríguez Dapena, the port of Seville is an excellent example of the port system’s firm commitment to achieve full connectivity between its facilities and the rest of the transport networks, as well as with the country’s main areas of logistical activities.
One of the highlights of the visit was the new Cuarto dock terminal, in an advanced construction state. The group also entered the pier of Tablada to tour the future new neighborhood in Seville, an example of port-city integration. To complete the visit, the Port Authority of Seville organised a session with the Technical Office of the Urban-Port District which is currently drafting the project’s Master Plan.
The Urban-Port District is one of the most relevant projects where the Port Authority of Seville is engaged. “This project will help shape the future urban structure, transforming the piers closest to the city through the design of new spaces for everyone’s enjoyment,” said M Rafael Carmona.
