Royal opening for Barcelona’s BEST

To be built in several phased stages to match trade growth during the 35-year concession, the new semi-automated facility occupies land reclaimed and funded by the Port Authority of Barcelona that includes the terminal’s sub-structure.

All superstructure investment is by HPH and while not divulging the full cost, Clemence Cheng, HPH’s managing director for Central Europe, explained that the current quay and yard crane investment alone was in the region of €216m (US$277m). In addition, €5m (US$6.4m) of European Union TEN-T rail funding was made available to HPH to develop an eight-track rail facility capable of handling trains of up to 100 teu.

The first phase of the terminal covers 100 ha, served by eight Super post-Panamax 23-row outreach ZPMC ship-to-shore (STS) cranes along a 1,000 metre quay; the depth alongside is 16.5 m. Although no timescale has been set, the terminal will be extended, increasing the quay length to 1,500 m supported by a further ten similar STS cranes. Eventually, the completed facility terminal will cover 132 ha, with alongside depths of up to 18.5 m.