9,200 passengers depart from the Port of Los Cristianos in the eleven departures scheduled by the shipping companies in what the Port Authority calls the first phase of the operation out of Holy Week, which also transports 2,600 vehicles. It covers the activity recorded yesterday and today from the aronero port to the islands of La Gomera and La Palma. Puertos de Tenerife admits that these are “always complicated dates in the port facility due to the great movement of people and vehicles that coincide in the southern infrastructure and that requires the maximum organization among all the operators to alleviate the effects on traffic in the port and the city”.
Between 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. yesterday there were seven departures of regular passenger traffic ferries to La Gomera and La Palma with 5,450 passengers and 1,550 vehicles. Today there will be four departures, between 8:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., with an estimated movement of 3,750 passengers and 1,050 vehicles.
The Port Authority explains that occupancy expectations are practically one hundred percent by shipping companies, with an increase in the number of boat rotations. This may give rise to record traffic data, exceeding the figures recorded in previous years.
Puertos de Tenerife, in collaboration with the Arona City Council and the shipping companies themselves, have drawn up an action plan with the aim of avoiding, as far as possible, notable incidents that result in the blocking of traffic at the exit and arrival of the port and, consequently, in the core of Los Cristianos.
For this, a detailed planning of the measures is required, among which the millimetric use of the boarding concourses stands out, with which real-time collaboration with the shipping companies is essential. In this sense, an action protocol is established in which both Fred. Olsen and Naviera Armas keep those responsible for the Port of Los Cristianos informed of any update in the shipping forecasts, to facilitate the comprehensive use of the shipping concourses. Not in vain, one of the objectives will be that the embarkation and disembarkation operations do not last longer than strictly necessary.
It is an “up-to-the-minute” program in which all those involved, from the Port Police to the Local Police, through Civil Protection and the shipping companies, know and, where appropriate, report in real time on any fact that may alter the arrival or departure of passenger ships.
Assuming that security and agility in operations will be key to meeting the expected demand, Puertos de Tenerife reinforces the presence of the Port Police in the facility on the days of greatest expected movement. Arona City Council has also committed to this extreme.
