The president of the Suardiaz Group, Juan Riva, this morning informed his counterpart at the Harbour Authority of Vigo, Jesús Vázquez Almuíña, about a project that seeks to reduce the carbon footprint in the Atlantic Maritime Corridor • This initiative involves achieving a higher degree of energy efficiency in the facilities of the Shuttle Terminal of Bouzas • Vázquez Almuíña valued the project positively, as it is framed within the strategy of Blue Growth (Blue Growth) that leads the Harbour Authority of Vigo

The shipping company responsible for the Autopista del Mar between Vigo and Saint Nazaire, Suardiaz Atlántica S.L., has taken a step further in the commitment to a more sustainable connection between the Terminal Ro-Ro de Bouzas and its counterpart in France... so was moved this morning by the maximum responsible for the shipping, Juan Riva, to the president of the Harbour Authority of Vigo, Jesús Vázquez Almuíña, at a meeting in which he advanced his proposal for the decarbonization of the Atlantic Maritime Corridor.

Collaboration for clean energy and LNG
However, this project to turn the Sea Highway into green is not new, since the beginning of the Blue Growth strategy, back in 2016, both organisms - Harbour Authority and Suardiaz- have worked as partners in the Hive project, where a container that produced electricity from LNG to turn off the engines was built and tested on the ships of the Sea Highway, and where the first global prototype was born from a Galician consortium (GPEC). Also, Harbour Authority and Suardiaz have collaborated in the SamuelNG project, where the strategy of decarbonization of the Autopista del Mar was designed. In fact, the inclusion of clean energies and LNG have always been within the strategic axes of the Blue Growth Plan of the Port of Vigo, with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint and the emissions of the Port, as stated by the Harbour Authority itself in the commitment of Our Ocean and in the European Green Deal. According to Riva, the project presented this morning is divided into three different lines of action: the decarbonization of the Terminal, the construction of two ro-ro ships that would cover the route of the Sea Highway powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), and the commitment to digitization.

Decarbonization of the Terminal
With regard to the decarbonisation of the Terminal where the Suardiaz Group is currently operating in Vigo, which serves the maritime lines of the Atlantic Corridor, Riva pointed to five main points of action: the replacement of the tractor heads with new, environmentally more sustainable technologies, such as LNG or hydrogen, which would reduce the negative externalities of the transport of goods between the production / storage centre of the Stellantis Group in Vigo and the port area of Bouzas; the replacement of conventional working equipment in the Vigo Terminal by more efficient technologies and by the use of the transport of the more efficient and the energy-efficient, in the systems of the light-powered and the transport of the water-powered, in a liquid-powered vehicle-based infrastructure; a system of the use of a clean-for the development of a clean-for the production of the transport of the Vigo-to-water-water-water-to-water-water-to-water-water-water-water-to-water-water-to-water-water-to-water-water-water-to-water-water-to-water-to-water-water-to-water-water-water

Construction of LNG-propelled vessels
The Suardiaz project also provides for the construction of two liquefied natural gas-powered ro-ro vessels that would connect North Spain to West France on the route of the Sea Highway. This maritime line, which was already the subject of subsidies by Brussels, has allowed the transfer of approximately 15,000 trailers per year and 50,000 vehicles from European roads to other more environmentally efficient means, such as ships. As Riva advanced, the propulsion of this type of ship would consume and reduce greenhouse gases. These vessels would be equipped with hybrid battery technology, which would improve fuel efficiency by mitigating the main engine and electric generator load fluctuations through battery support. With this action, Suardiaz aims to contribute to a 99% reduction in sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions, compared to the current ships powered by heavy fuel oil. In addition, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions would be reduced by 96% and CO2 emissions by approximately 50%.

Digitization of processes
Finally, the shipping company wants to make progress in the digitization of the processes and to improve the productivity of the port operations by making progress in the information system, which would increase the digitization of the transport and improve the management of the loads received and issued, as well as the internal movements. In turn, such progress would allow different modes of communication, through CSV or XLS files, as well as bidirectional communication with their EDI systems. Efficiency would also be optimized, as the system would specifically address vehicle forecasts, block requests, work requests, information changes, reception data, dispatch, inspection and vehicle location after each movement.

The Highway of the Sea between Vigo and Saint Nazaire currently has a frequency of three departures per week and port, as well as an additional exit in the North. In other words, a total of four vessels with the capacity to accommodate about 1,200 vehicles or 100 trailers on each trip to France leave Vigo every week. The ships covering this route are the "SuarVigo" and the "Bouzas."