The counsellor del Mar y del Ciclo del Agua, Juan Manuel Lafuente, together with the general director of Ports i Transport Marítim, Antoni Mercant, have announced today the new features of the campaign of the Prevention Service and Maritime Cleaning of the Coast for this year. It highlights the extension of the active period of navigation of the boats, which will now be from May to September, one month more than in previous years. The contract will be put out to tender this Friday, January 26, opening to competition the management of the coastal cleaning service for two years, extendable up to three more years. An important criterion in the selection of the winning proposal will be the entity’s commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

The Service of Prevention and Maritime Cleaning of the Coast

During the presentation held at the Club Nàutic S’Arenal, Minister Lafuente stressed that “from 2024, PortsIB de les Illes Balears, under the Ministry of the Sea and Water Cycle, will be in charge of managing the service”, according to the functions conferred by the Law of Ports de les Illes Balears of collaboration with the adoption of measures for environmental preservation of the coast and the order, in this regard, made by the Agreement of the Consell de Govern of January 19.

The contractors must provide the vessels with their crew and assume all 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) under the Gerència de Ports de les Illes Balears.

Lafuente has underlined the objectives of a campaign that will be in charge of keeping the coastal areas clean during the most touristic months: “These boats will be mainly in charge of collecting floating and semi-submerged solids, as well as working on the dispersion of hydrocarbon stains and the removal of 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 of 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). In total, we will have 18 beach-type and 5 littoral-type vessels in simultaneous service,” he said.

The period of action will start on May 1 and end on September 30, from 08:00 to 15:00 every day of the week for all boats. 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 October 1 to April 30, there will always be a boat in tow ready for transport 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.
Eivissa: 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.
Eivissa: Sant Antoni.
Formentera: La Savina.