TERCONMED
Title: CONTAINER TERMINALS AS A KEY ELEMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SHORT SEA SHIPPING
Summary: The EU aims to move as much traffic as possible from the roads to other more environmentally-friendly forms of transport. The severe traffic problems that European motorways suffer on a daily basis has the added problems of a significant increase in CO2 emissions, high costs in maintaining the infrastructure, high consumption of fuel, the cost in human lives, etc. One of the solutions that has been in place for some years is Short Sea Shipping in which a combination of lorry and ship is used. This form of transport is not a competitor of road transport, the aim is to work with and complement such transport.
The TERCONMED project’s aim is to test whether modern Maritime Container Terminals (MCT) are key elements in Short Sea Shipping (SSS) in the Mediterranean and amongst third-party countries in its basin. To this end, different actions are proposed, not only regarding the improvement of MCTs, but concerning changes and modifications that could be made to vessels involved in SSS. Customs requirements for SSS in member countries are an obstacle that makes this type of transport more problematical, as, while vehicles involved in road transport have no difficulties while travelling on European roads, maritime transport must meet documentation requirements which should not just be simplified but abolished in most cases and arrive to the European Maritime Transport Space without Barriers. A different issue is the training of staff involved in SSS and this must gradually improve, so that this form of transport can become more adaptable and earn the trust of the freight companies. Once the results have been analysed and conclusions drawn, proposals will be put forward to the authorities, terminal operators and ship-owners.
Several different tasks make up the TERCONMED project:
- Determine what the current state of container terminals is and make appropriate proposals for their modification, especially with regard to handling 45 foot containers, which are ideal for holding Europallets and for storage at the terminal itself.
- Identify the main SSS routes that operate in the Mediterranean, study the operational model, and put forward possible modifications so that they can be adapted to the latest trends within container transport, especially with regard to Lift On – Lift Off (Lo–Lo) operations.
- Given that the training of SSS staff is necessary, the project will seek to improve such training by developing appropriate documentation for this purpose.
- One of the most important project tasks is to provide the national, regional and local authorities and companies operating in the sector with our project results.
To this end, a series of meetings and conferences are planned, as well as the drawing-up of leaflets, publications and press releases in the media dedicated to the European transport sector.
For more information, please visit EurOcean Knowledge Gate.