BPA announces two new container services to the Americas and investment in new cold storage and laboratory facilities
The Bilbao Port Authority (BPA) is seeking to consolidate its position as the Atlantic gateway for foreign trade in fruit and vegetables from the Iberian Peninsula with two new direct container services to the Americas.
The services connect to the west coast of South America (with calls at the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama, Peru and Chile), and Canada. They complement the large number of shipping lines already connecting the port to around 900 other ports worldwide, with a strong presence in the UK, Ireland and northern Europe.
BPA will once again take part in next week’s Fruit Attraction. Its director of operations, commercial affairs and logistics, Andima Ormaetxe, will be one of the speakers at the round-table discussion entitled ‘Innovation in the cold chain: the strategic role of ports in the global trade in fresh produce’, set to take place at 12:30 on 7 October. At the same time, the Port of Bilbao will also be present, at Stand 4C1 in Hall 4, within the Spanish State Ports Authority exhibition area.
The Port of Bilbao has specialised facilities and companies with experience in handling perishable goods. The Border Control Post, equipped with 15 loading/unloading bays, has been fitted with new refrigeration equipment for the cold stores and loading bays, and new laboratories have been added for use by the Official Service of Inspection, Surveillance and Regulation of Foreign Trade.
The port’s container terminal is the largest in northern Spain, with 540 reefer container sockets and automated access that streamlines and simplifies all operations, a key feature for this type of traffic.
Likewise, the port boasts ro-ro and multipurpose terminals, as well as perishable goods warehouses. The Frioport cold storage terminal occupies 4,800m² of floor space, with two freezers operating at -25ºC with a total capacity of 16,300m³, and three cold rooms with a capacity of 7,500m³.
In addition, Progeco has two facilities for the storage and transfer of goods, with 6,000m² of positive cold storage space, and offers specialised services for the storage, maintenance and repair of refrigerated containers 365 days a year, thereby preventing interruptions in the cold chain.
According to BPA, the port offers other competitive advantages, such as weekly container rail services with depots in the provinces of Araba, Barcelona, Burgos, Guadalajara, Huesca, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Pontevedra, Seville, Tarragona, Valencia and Zaragoza.
