Puertos y terminales - Ports and terminals 71 THE SEARCH FOR GREATER COMPETITIVENESS The port terminals specialising in project cargo have been investing heavily for years to maintain their competitiveness. One of the major challenges they face is the continuous rise in the dimensions of the goods to be handled, both in terms of weight and size, which means that their facilities must be sufficiently large and versatile. In addition, larger ships require deeper draughts. However, it is not only the infrastructure side that has been developed. In fact, the continuous training and retraining of port staff have become essential tools to meet the most demanding requirements of their customers. Port operators cannot do this job alone. Manu Pérez Riveras, CEO of Servicios Logísticos Portuarios, one of the leading stevedoring companies in the management and handling of project cargo in port environments, assures that ”port authorities and other public bodies must create the necessary conditions to ensure that this type of traffic is competitive.” According to the executive, the docks must have sufficient draughts and suitable load bearing capacity, and the rail and road accesses must allow these goods to reach or leave the ports. He also pointed out that ”in the current circumstances, the authorities must also help operators to transition to cleaner energies to reduce the carbon footprint of this traffic.” This request from the SLP CEO comes at a time when the terminals have highlighted the problem of rising energy costs, 70% in many cases, according to the employers’ organisation Anesco, which could be solved by this energy transition. However, the large operators are demanding direct aid from the authorities to cope with this increase and not be forced to pass on these additional costs in the final price of their services. The fact is that many of these operators already have an integrated management system that includes quality, safety and environmental certifications - as is the case of SLP - and, as far as possible, the terminals are considering new initiatives and investments to reduce the impact of their activities. However, the rise in the cost of energy in a sector as intensive as the port industry means that these operators are calling for this aid to be granted more quickly. La subida de los costes energéticos para las terminales portuarias ha sido del 70%, según la patronal Anesco. Energy costs for port terminals have risen by 70%, according to the employers’ organisation Anesco
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