The Coastal Prevention and Maritime Clean-up Service will extend its period of action

The councilor for the Sea and Water Cycle, Juan Manuel Lafuente, together with the general director of Ports and Maritime Transport, Antoni Mercant, have announced the new features of the Coastal Prevention and Maritime Cleaning Service campaign for this year.

One of the highlights is the extension of the active navigation period for vessels, which will now run from May to September, one month longer than in previous years. The contract will be put out to tender on Friday the 26th of January, opening up the management of the coastal cleaning service for a period of two years, which can be extended for a further three years. An important criterion in the selection of the winning bid will be the entity's commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability.

During the presentation held at the Club Nàutic S'Arenal, Minister Lafuente stressed that "from 2024, it will be PortsIB de les Illes Balears, dependent on the Ministry of the Sea and Water Cycle, which will be responsible for managing the service", in accordance with the functions conferred by the Law of Ports de les Illes Balears on collaboration with the adoption of measures for the environmental preservation of the coastline and the assignment, in this regard, made by the Agreement of the Consell de Govern of the 19th of January.

The contractors must provide the vessels and their crews and assume all the costs associated with the service, including the maintenance of the vessels and supplies. The service will be provided under the direction of the Unitat de Coordinació de Neteja del Litoral (UCNL), which reports to the Gerència de Ports de les Illes Balears.

Lafuente underlined the objectives of a campaign that will be responsible for keeping coastal areas clean during the tourist months: "These boats will be mainly responsible for collecting floating and semi-submerged solids, as well as working on dispersing hydrocarbon stains and removing jellyfish and algae. In addition, data on microplastics and jellyfish concentrations will be collected in collaboration with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography".

The annual tender budget is 1,465,979.16 € (VAT not included), which represents an update according to the CPI of the budget of the previous tender in 2020 and increases the proportional part corresponding to one more month of service.

The general director of Ports and Maritime Transport, Antoni Mercant, has announced the fleet available for the service. "We will have two types of boats: Beach (5-6 m in length, 6 knots, collection capacity 1 m³, skipper) and Coastal (9-12 m in length, 8 knots, collection capacity 3.5 m³, skipper + crew member). In total, we will have 18 beach type and 5 coastal type vessels in simultaneous service," he said.

The period of action will begin on the 1st of May and end on the 30tth of September, from 08:00 to 15:00 every day of the week for all vessels. In emergency situations, boats will be available at any time of the day and boats from different areas can be brought together in the affected area. In addition, from the 1st of October to the 30th of April, there will always be a boat in tow ready to be moved to the emergency area.

The distribution of the beach fleet (with 1 vessel per home port) includes:

Mallorca: Palma, Port d'Andratx, Port de Sóller, Port de Pollença, Port d'Alcúdia/ Ca'n Picafort, Cala Rajada, Cala D'Or, Colònia de Sant Jordi.

Menorca: Ciutadella, Fornells/ Addaia, Maó, Cala Galdana.

Ibiza: Eivissa (2 boats), Sant Antoni, Santa Eulària.

Formentera: La Savina.

The distribution of the coastal fleet (with 1 vessel per base port) includes:

Mallorca: Palma, Porto Cristo / Porto Colom.

Menorca: Maó.

Ibiza: Sant Antoni.

Formentera: La Savina.