Puertos del Estado receives €2.77 million to implement the European Single Window

• The SEMAS project will enable the implementation of the European Maritime Single Window in seven member states, aiming to harmonize all electronic information exchanges related to ship calls.
• The ultimate goal is the creation of a single European maritime space.

July 18, 2024 (Puertos del Estado Public Entity). Puertos del Estado will receive €2.775 million from the 2023 Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) call, under the SEMAS project, for the implementation of the European Maritime Single Window at the European level. The SEMAS project has a total budget of €29.76 million, with 50% funded by CEF. The project coordinator is the Valenciaport Foundation, with national port authorities from Spain (Puertos del Estado), Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Italy, and Slovenia as partners.

Puertos del Estado is the designated authority in Spain for operating and managing the Maritime Single Window, which is conceived as the sole entry point for declaring information related to a ship's call at a Spanish port. The public authority provides the necessary information to competent Spanish authorities, other Member States, and European authorities, as established by Regulation 2019/1239/EU.

The current goal is to create a smart European maritime space through the European Maritime Single Window Environment (SEMAS-EMSWe), which will be implemented in seven EU Member States. This will harmonize the electronic exchange of necessary information across the EU regarding the arrival, stay, and departure of ships at ports, ensuring that the information can be submitted in the same manner at each national maritime single window.

In Spain, this project will allow Puertos del Estado to upgrade the Maritime Single Window and adapt to new information communicated through the INTEGRA2 management system, used by port authorities, as well as establish connections with various administrative bodies and authorities.

The implementation of the European Maritime Single Window Environment is one of the most impactful projects and regulations in the European Union for the digital transformation of EU ports. It will enable maximum harmonization and interoperability in procedures and processes that currently vary across Member States or even between individual ports. This action is aimed at creating a single European maritime space.

Within the state-owned port system, the port authorities of Barcelona, Gijón, and Valencia will receive a total CEF grant of €42 million for the implementation of the OPS project, which plans to electrify docks to allow ships to connect to the electrical grid while docked, so they can shut down their auxiliary engines. Additionally, the ports of Almería and Santander will receive €5.9 million and €3.54 million respectively for pier expansion.

This CEF mechanism of the European Union aims to promote the deployment of an efficient and sustainable trans-European transport network.