Date Published: 21/11/2019
ARCHIVED - Cartagena-Italy ferry route proposed as well as regular services to and from France
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The driving time saved by a Costa Cálida-Italy route would be far greater
It was announced earlier in the week that the shipping companies Grimaldi, Balearia and were presenting a proposal to inaugurate ferry routes linking the port of Cartagena with southern France, and following a meeting with the port authority further details have emerged including the additional possibility of a route linking the Costa Cálida with Italy.
The main motive, and the one most likely to make such a venture profitable, is to provide an alternative mode of transport for the millions of tons of fresh fruit and vegetables exported every year from the Region of Murcia and other parts of southern Spain, providing a route which eliminates the AP-7 motorway along the Mediterranean coast to the border with France. At the same time, though, it will certainly be of interest to many holidaymakers, and other advantages have also been pointed out by the port authority in response, including not only a possible reduction in transport time and costs but also the emission of fewer harmful exhaust fumes into the atmosphere
Speaking at a conference to promote short-haul maritime shipping, the vice-president of the port authority Pedro Pablo Hernández explains that two docks in Escombreras, those of Príncipe Felipe and Isaac Peral, have already been adapted to cater for roll-on-roll-off ferries transporting goods vehicles in their holds. At present the whole port complex is equipped with only one Ro-Ro mooring point at the dock of San Pedro near the city centre and the new facilities, which were completed this year, make it possible to contemplate a far wider range of services.
Similarly, at present there is a lack of regular cargo ship routes at Cartagena following the failure of plans to set up routes to and from northern Africa and southern France in the past, and this is one of the reasons that an Italian alternative is being mooted. This may prove more viable as the road distance saved would be far greater, and drivers leaving Cartagena would arrive in Italy rested, with full tanks of fuel and ready to continue their journeys immediately.
Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/