The Canary Islands Government, through the Ministry of Infrastructure, is bringing forward work to reorganize the docks in the port of Playa Blanca and is also placing four defenses, in the form of piles, to protect fishing and sports boats from the traffic of the two large regular line boats that connect Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
The intervention, which costs 480,000 euros, does not involve the expansion of the port's berthing capacity, but it does guarantee the safety of the boats and the port facility itself, according to Rafael González, head of Operations of the Ports Area of the Ministry, told La Voz.
The reorganization of the port rules out the provisional transfer of some boats to the Marina Rubicón marina announced by the Government of the Canary Islands while the macro expansion of the southern port was being built, which for the moment does not even have a budget item. The project is still in the drafting phase.
Against adverse conditions
A strong gust of wind, a sudden stop of machinery or other eventual circumstance, in the current situation of the port, could push commercial ships towards the berths of small boats and cause accidents, as already happened in the recent past with the fast ferry of the Fred Olsen company.
"The defenses that are being built would not allow commercial ships to go against fishing and sports boats. It would have to be a tremendous tragedy for a large ship to be able to pass towards the docks," said González, who recalled the congestion and safety problems that the port of Playa Blanca suffers.
The head of Operations of the Ports Area argued that currently there is not even a meter available to dock, therefore, the Government's action allows the safe docking of all vessels that usually do so in the port. "The channels will be more strict, but all loose ends will be eliminated and a dock will be left absolutely free of obstacles for navigation," commented Rafael González. The port has a capacity of 132 berths, counting the Armas and Fred Olsen ships.
The opinion of the users
The president of the Fishermen's Association of Playa Blanca described the Government's intervention as a "botch" because he assures that the boats will be crowded into a space that is too small. Domingo Umpiérrez also demanded more information from the Executive on the interventions that are made in the port facility of the south.
La Voz also consulted the opinion of the skipper of one of the boats that is dedicated to the tourist promenade and expressed that the defense pillars closest to his berthing line, which have not yet been installed, will seriously hinder the entry maneuver of the boat. Thus, Andrés Pedro, skipper of the Princesa Yaiza (25 meters in length) pointed out that "when they put the necessary pillars and there is a lot of wind, the situation will be complicated because there is another boat in front".
