Since 1982, the Port of the Bay of Cadiz has brought together all state-owned port facilities serving trade and navigation within the Bay's territorial scope and offers a wide and comprehensive range of services; from those typical of a commercial, industrial and fishing port to modern facilities serving nautical sports and sailing.
These facilities are distributed across the following locations:
• Cadiz Dock-City (containers, ro-ro trucks, cruise ships and general cargo)
• Cadiz Dock-Free Zone (general merchandise and liquid and solid bulk cargo)
• La Cabezuela-Puerto Real Dock (solid bulk cargo)
• Dock of El Puerto de Santa María (general cargo and liquid bulk)
Fishing activity is concentrated in Cádiz and El Puerto de Santa María, with docks, storage and handling facilities, fish auctions and sales of fresh fish.
Finally, it is necessary to mention the shipbuilding, repair and conversion industry, with two dry docks owned by IZAR, SA and the oil drilling platform construction facilities owned by Dragados Off-Shore, SA
Simply reading this wide range of services and features speaks volumes about the versatility and functionality of the port.
In April 1998, when I joined the Port Authority of the Bay of Cádiz, along with the new Board of Directors, we decided to develop a Strategic Plan to guide the short- and medium-term actions needed at the port. This plan established key guidelines to optimize resource allocation and bring the port to positive results as quickly as possible. After conducting the corresponding SWOT analysis and with the consensus of the Port Community, the following lines of action were established:
Boosting seven types of traffic (ro-ro, solid and liquid bulk, lo-lo, cruise ships, fishing and general cargo); promoting multimodality and intermodality, making the existing port land reserve profitable; boosting port marketing; developing a total quality policy for port services; reducing operating and structural costs; developing an environmental management program and developing and implementing new technologies.
Since then we have been working in this direction and looking at the statistics for 2001 and comparing them with those of 1997, in terms of goods we have achieved a figure of 4.644.263 tons compared to 3.490.654, that is, a sustained growth of approximately 10%; in other words, the change in trend has been radical and makes all of us who have directly or indirectly contributed our work and collaboration to the better development of our port feel very excited.
The Strategic Plan developed in 1999 outlined a series of actions that are currently being implemented at various stages. Some are already completed, others are underway, and still others, longer-term projects, are undergoing feasibility studies and analysis.
Among the first, it is worth highlighting the reorganization of the Cádiz dock, with important actions such as the construction of 2 new ro-ro ramps, new areas for trucks and trailers, expansion of the Marqués de Comillas dock, new concessions for refrigerated facilities, access control to the port facilities; remote operation and lighting of the Marqués de Comillas and Reina Victoria docks; at the La Cabezuela Dock, the North extension of the Dock by 117 meters, with a draft of 14 m, the construction project of the new South dock with 450 meters of berthing line, and a draft of 14 m, the installation of new cranes, the enabling of new storage areas and the urbanization and adaptation; In the Free Trade Zone dock, the new paving of the quays and the nautical-sports facilities are underway, while in the El Puerto de Santa María dock, a new fishing pier with 300 meters of berthing line has been built. Furthermore, in both El Puerto de Santa María and La Cabezuela, underutilized land is being developed with new businesses and industries, giving preference to those that will contribute to port traffic.
Our projects include updating the Strategic Plan, which we are already working on, as we believe it is essential to adapt it to the variables and unforeseen events that may have arisen during the three years since its implementation. However, until we have new guidelines, we will continue to operate in accordance with the previous plan, and to that end, we have the following projects in preparation:
The reorganization of land access to the Cádiz dock; in La Cabezuela, the construction of the new 450-meter South dock; the railway access and internal roads and the urbanization of the outer industrial park (800.000 m2); in the Free Zone, the new access to the dock; in El Puerto de Santa María, the new fish market and continuous sales hall, creation of a leisure center and the project to adapt the Outer Dock for new passenger facilities and ro-ro ramp intended for traffic from Morocco, in addition to extending the tele-operation to the rest of the docks.
With this horizon in mind, and always mindful of any modifications that may arise in the Strategic Plan, we have quantified and set objectives, both in terms of increased traffic, which translates into higher revenues from the application of the corresponding port tariffs, as well as increased fees for concessions and authorizations, and strict control of spending, in order to achieve a positive outcome for the port in 2002.
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