The Director General of Transport for the Government of the Canary Islands, María Fernández, stated on Monday that the autonomous government can only authorise the schedules requested by the shipping companies for docking at the port of Los Cristianos and “ensure that the connectivity” set by decree is guaranteed.
Fernández made this remark after being asked about the controversy generated by the lack of planning from the shipping companies, which do not adjust their schedules to real needs. This comes after the President of the Cabildo of La Gomera, Casimiro Curbelo, has requested both the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Canary Government to prevent the arrival of ships that saturate the docking lines from coinciding.
The island president, who is also a member of the board of the authority, demands “more efficient regulation of the arrival schedules of the ships” and has sent a letter to both institutions with this request, aiming to avoid coinciding docking schedules and to ensure a “more rational and coordinated use of port spaces,” according to a statement from the Cabildo.
The Director General explained that the General Directorate of Transport is limited to receiving requests from the shipping companies to operate at specific times. She added that the management of operations at the port does not depend on her department, but rather on the competent port areas, whether they be Canarian Ports or State Ports.
“We do not have any more capacity than to authorise the schedules and routes that they request from us,” Fernández insisted, reiterating that the responsibility for operations lies directly with the ports.
