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(42.8 metres at an exterior monobuoy); an internal pipe rack to connect berths with the terminals and the Southern Chemical Park; and facilities that allow berth-to-berth port operations. In 2014, Port of Tarragona completed the extension of the Chemical Quay; this key infrastructure will enable independent bulk liquids storage capacity to double from
MORE THAN A PORT This infrastructure’s hub positioning is designed on the basis of two subsequent forms of distribution: on one hand, through smaller ships to Mediterranean countries; on the other, through rail-port intermodality to distribute goods to the interior of the European continent: the Iberian Peninsula, France, Italy and central Europe. Ship-to-rail intermodality is one of the main commitments of the Port of Tarragona. The port itself has important rail infrastructure, alongside key development projects outside its main location. The Chemical Quay has a railway terminal adapted to the loading and unloading of liquid bulk products. It has three tracks of 220 metres in length, and a loading/ unloading system that allows operations directly from storage points. La Boella Intermodal Terminal is the most important infrastructure in this development. It is a mixed-gauge terminal (with both Iberian and international standard gauge tracks) with four operating tracks and four others for receiving and dispatching trains – all of them are ready to operate trains of 750 metres in length. With first class characteristics such as electrification up to the operating tracks, or a liquid collection system in case of any spillage, it provides for a full, state-of-the-art terminal in the Mediterranean rail freight corridor. Finally, the Tarragona Port Authority is also working on getting closer to its Iberian hinterland thanks to the construction of a new intermodal terminal in Marchamalo (Guadalajara, Spain), with identical characteristics to those of the La Boella Terminal. The port enclave has currently acquired a 150,000-m² plot of land
its current 800,000 m³ to some 1.5m m³ in the next few years. This growth in capacity, which is already being developed by Vopak Terquimsa, Tepsa and Euroenergo, is one of the main bases on which rests Port of Tarragona’s strategy to become a regional hub for liquid bulk products.
parallel to the rail line between Madrid and Barcelona, and located in a logistics development area, right on the edge of the point where Madrid’s railway congestion ends. Port of Tarragona says construction works on this new terminal will begin during the coming year.
THE INTERMODAL PORT STRATEGY • PORT OF TARRAGONA’S AMIBITION TO BECOME THE REGIONAL HUB FOR LIQUID BULK PRODUCTS IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN RELIES ON RAIL-PORT INTERMODALITY
OVER THE PAST few years, Port of Tarragona has pursued a commercial strategy to become a regional hub in the Mediterranean for liquid bulk products. This strategy rests on the growth in bulk liquids storage capacity, its proximity to the most important chemical cluster in southern Europe, and the opportunities provided by the important development of intermodal services. Port of Tarragona is a leader in terms of Mediterranean chemical and petrochemical traffic, handling more than 21m tonnes in 2019. Its technical characteristics allow it to have one of the most outstanding port infrastructures in the region: it has an operational draught of up to 15.5 metres
HCB MONTHLY | OCTOBER 2020
