In the aforementioned meeting, the consignees grouped in the convening organization, as well as other important attendees, presented to the representative of the Port Authority various issues, such as the coincidence of ships at identical times, which causes delays in unloading goods, the lack of draft of the recently constructed ramp, which requires dredging of the seabed, and the need for more space for container storage.
The commitment was made by the Head of the Technical Department of Exploitation and Services of the Port Authority of Las Palmas, María del Rosario Saavedra, who traveled to Lanzarote to listen to the problems and deficiencies that the Port of Arrecife has been presenting for some time, without being resolved by the Port Authority.
The Port Crane
In this regard, the co-spokesperson of the Promoter of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote, Cándido Armas, pointed out that the businessmen secured the commitment of María del Rosario Saavedra to study the possibility of avoiding scheduling conflicts in the docking of ships, as well as to lower the newly built ramp on the dock a little, so that it allows the anchoring of larger draft vessels. Another issue that was also addressed at the meeting was the operation of the Port crane, which was a matter of concern to the aforementioned businessmen.
Cándido Armas also revealed that other issues of interest related to the Port of Arrecife had also been touched upon at the meeting, many of them consisting of historical demands, such as the need to close the Port to south winds, the construction of the Cruise Ship Dock, or the expansion of port facilities. In any case, the businessman acknowledged that the interlocutor to raise these issues was not the most suitable, since María del Rosario Saavedra does not have powers in matters of investment, but is in charge of technical issues, so they hope that these demands will be transferred to the president of the Port Authority of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Minimum Investments
On the other hand, the co-spokesperson of the Chamber of Commerce considers that the Port of Arrecife has not grown in the same proportion as the capital has, so he demanded a greater amount of investment from the Port Authority of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, so that they place the Port at the height of the Island's needs. "We consider that the investments that have been made in Lanzarote in recent years have been minimal, and that the Port of Arrecife has been demanding a series of actions that require a decisive contribution."
Finally, Cándido Armas requested a meeting between the businessmen of the Island and the operators on the Dock with the president of the Port Authority to directly expose the needs of the Port. "We have to give the president a wake-up call so that he starts to look at the Port of Arrecife with different eyes, because the dock is the heart of the Island, and without a port we are not going anywhere," said Armas, while recalling the beginning of a Cruise Ship Dock in Fuerteventura, and the project that exists in Tenerife for the construction of another Cruise Ship Dock, "which, they say, will become one of the best in Europe."
