The shipping platform

Location: An inlet of the sea on the NW coast of Spain. General overview: The Vigo Estuary is protected by Cies Isles and the Morazo Peninsular. Vigo is the base for the big fishing companies which have prominent presence in countries such as Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Australia, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, Chile and Peru, among others. The port of Vigo is divided into four main areas; the passenger terminal, the fishing port, the Ro-Ro terminal and the commercial port, linked by feeder lines with Algerian, Rotterdam and Felixstowe ports. Parts of port in order from south to north: -Bouzas: divided between Ro-Ro traffic and shipyards for the repair of vessels. -Beiramar and O Berbés: for fishing vessels. -Transatlantic dock. -Marina dock for yachts (these last three are by the city center). -O Areal: commercial general and fluid goods freighting, 1500 meters long with a railway connection. -Guixar: for handling containers, 769 meters long with a railway connection. Beyond this point, shipyards and fishing ships docks could be found (Pescanova dock among them). The Port of Vigo is involved in the construction of a Logistics Platform (PLISAN), that is supposed to conform a multifunctional complex spread over 419 ha and it is located 35 km away from Vigo. Quays: ● Comercio Quay Commerce Quay is a multipurpose wharf devoted to loading and unloading of conventional general cargo. Initially had a 250 m long berthing line with a depth of 9 meters, but it was expanded up to 300 meters by the installation of mooring elements (dolphin) seizing the breakwater of the marina, what have enabled this pier for cruise ships berthing at times of saturation of the specialized Terminal. ● Transversal Quay With a length of 515 m (East and West sides) and 170 m (North side), it has 3 alignments, in which are mainly handled rough granite blocks and other conventional general cargo such as timber, minerals and salt. ● Arenal Quay With a length of 523 m and a depth ranging from 10 to 14 m, is divided into 2 alignments; one of them devoted to general cargo (1st alignment, 292 m), and the other one (3rd alignment, 231 m) for bulks, both liquid and solid. It has various special facilities, as well as 1 salt warehouse, a fuel supply depot for ships, and the Border Inspection Post (BIP). ● Guixar Quay The development of Guixar basin came along the arrival of the railway, although currently is wholly devoted to container traffic, holding the port's container terminal, given in concession to Termavi. It has 762 m of berthing line and depth over 17 m. These features and a depot area of more than 180,000 m2, make it the main container terminal in the region. It hosts more than 80 regular maritime services that link Vigo with the main ports of the world, handling more than 200,000 TEUs every year, what makes Vigo the 8th Spanish port in terms of container traffic. The terminal is highly automated, with advanced software systems. Due to the characteristics of the traffics at the port of Vigo, Guixar terminal is specialised in Reefer containers, with more than 1300 connection points inside the terminal, although all types of container are handled. The terminal equipment includes 5 container cranes: Feeder, Panamax, Post-panamax and Superpost-Panamax. It also has 7 transtainers of 40 tons and 9 reach stacker of 45 tons. Main Imports: Car spares, cars, timber, cement, raw granite, liquid bulk, fresh fruit, frozen and fresh fish and containers. Main Exports: Cars, raw granite, wood, containers and special parts. Traffic figures: Approx 2,308 vessels, 5,263,250t of cargo and 128,500 passengers handled annually. Load line zone: Summer. Max size: -Breakbulk: Depth 15.5 m. -Containers: Depth 17.0 m. -Passengers: Depth 12.0 m. -Ro-Ro: Depth 15.0 m. -Bulk: Depth 15.5 m. -Tankers: Depth 10.0 m. The largest vessels handled: -By length: "Queen Mary 2", cruise vessel, LOA 345m, draught 9.2m, 148,500GT. -By draught: "Konavle", bulk carrier, LOA 234m, draught 12.2m, 71,242DWT.