The shipping platform

Location: The port of Gijon is located on the N coast of Spain, in the Bay of Biscay, W of the city of Gijon. General overview: The harbour of Gijon has 3 main areas: Commercial area (formerly called Musel) in the NW of the Bay, Central area, where Naval berths and dockyards are located and Local Harbour in SE of the Bay (now a marina). There is a large port expansion plan in progress and cruise ships have started visiting the port. The main imports are iron ore, coal, fuel and gas oil, main exports are cement, clinker and steel products. The Port of Gijon contains several specialized terminals for solid bulk cargoes, including terminals for coal, iron coal and minerals, cement, and cereals. Terminals devoted to liquid bulk cargoes handle asphalt, butane, propane, and gasoline. Terminals specializing in general merchandise include a container terminal, a roll-on/roll-off terminal, and a terminal for iron and steel products. Multi-purpose terminals handle solid bulk, roll-on/roll-off cargoes, talc and general merchandise, and iron and steel products. The Port of Gijon’s Container Terminal is privately-owned by Barcelona’s Group TCB, and it handled a new high of three million containers in 2006. Located on the Oso Wharf, it has five thousand square meters of covered storage, 40 thousand square meters of open storage, and a dock of 210 meters with alongside depth of 11.5 meters. It includes facilities for refrigerated/frozen cargo and can handle a minimum of 26 containers per hour. It has direct railway connections serving Madrid twice weekly. The Port of Gijon’s Solid Bulk Terminal, operated by European Bulk Handling Installation (EBHI), handles up to 16 million tons per year with capacity for 100 thousand tons per day. With docks of 920 meters, it can accommodate two ships of 500 thousand tons at one time. The solid bulks terminal operated by OLIGSA (Operador Logistico Integral de Graneles SA) contains an automated part with capacity for one million cubic meters of cargo and rail and road connections to the country’s transportation networks. The Port of Gijon has two terminals specializing in cement cargoes. Other wharves handling solid bulk cargoes contain warehouses of almost 27 thousand square meters with capacity to handle two thousand tons of cargo per hour. The Wharf Moliner, managed by Ceferino Crossbowmen and Children, handles cereals. With docks of 310 meters with alongside depth of 14 meters, the wharf includes covered storage of ten thousand square meters and capacity to handle 1300 tons per hour. Several terminals in the Port of Gijon handle liquid bulk cargoes. The Terminal de Repsol Butano SA contains storage for 44.5 thousand cubic meters and direct rail connections as well as a pipeline for loading/unloading cargoes. The Terminal of CLH, handling gasohols, gasolines, and fuel oil and has storage capacity for 120 thousand cubic meters and direct rail access. The AGIP Terminal, handling gasohol and gasolines, has storage capacity for 62.5 thousand cubic meters of cargo and direct rail access. Two Asphalt Terminals can accommodate ships to 500 thousand DWT and can handle 350 thousand tons per hour. The Port of Gijon’s fishing terminal has docks of 789 meters with alongside depth of 6 meters and dedicated open zones of 18.3 thousand square meters. The terminal also has an ice factory, cold storage warehouses, area for the fish market, and complete support facilities. The Port of Gijon has several areas that serve passengers and cruises. The Moliner wharf has a berth of 313 meters with alongside depth of 14 meters. Wharf 7 has berth of 326 meters with alongside depth of 12 meters. Peak II has 360 meters of berth with alongside depth of 9 meters. Only four kilometers from downtown, the passenger terminal has easy transportation connections to the city’s cultural, commercial, and gastronomical treats. Traffic figures: Approx 1,180 vessels, 19,331,000t of cargo and 26,100TEU are handled annually. Load line zone: North Atlantic Winter Seasonal Zone II, Winter Nov 1 to Mar 31, Summer Apr 1 to Oct 31. Max size: The largest vessel handled: LOA: 329 m, draught: 16.8 m, deadweight: 208,445 t.