In Port News 13/05/2015
Welcome to Algeciras. Population: 117,974.
Unless you want to catch a ferry to Gibraltar or visit the birthplace of flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia, chances are you’ve never heard of this ugly industrial town in Andalusia, southern Spain.
Yet it’s the busiest port in the Mediterranean Sea, moving more cargo than more-illustrious rivals Barcelona and Genoa. Second-quarter numbers on maritime transportation from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, show how many thousands of tonnes of goods move through Europe’s centuries-old harbors. Algeciras ranks fifth in Europe, ahead of Marseille.
Its strategic location puts Algeciras within spitting distance of the narrow gateway that separates Europe from Africa, connecting the Atlantic with the Mediterranean.
“Geography has allowed the port to become a major hub for both east-west and north-south trades,” said Lee Klaskow, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “Europe-bound mega-ships from Asia stop at Algeciras and unload some containers that then head south to western Africa or South America’s east coast.”
Not only is Algeciras competing with the big boys, it’s also growing at a stronger rate than all of them. Between 2009 and 2014, its annualized pace of growth was faster than Rotterdam, Europe’s busiest port. Olé!
