Jesus Caicedo, the president of Almeria’s Port Authority (APA), attended the Fruit Attraction fair and held a working meeting with representatives of the Almeria consignee J. Ronco y Cía and the Portico customs agency from the British port of Portsmouth. J. Ronco y Cía was represented by Daniel Sanchez and Gilles Percelay, while the Portico agency was represented by its manager, Daphne Comber, and its commercial manager, Matt Green.
The president of the APA also met with Carlos del Amo from Grupo Lopez, and Jose Antonio Sanchez from the transport company J. Carrion.
According to Caicedo, the meeting was positive and they talked about the regular service that the Belgian shipping company Sealink Antwerp intends to establish between the port of Almeria and the ports of Portsmouth (United Kingdom) and Zeebrugge (Belgium). The shipping company plans to transport fruit and vegetables from Almeria to England on this weekly short-distance maritime service. The products will be transported on a vessel with a capacity for 280 semi-trailers without a driver, and on its return trip to Almeria, the ship will stop at Zeebrugge, where it will collect merchandise from Central Europe that will later be distributed in the South of Spain and Morocco.
Sealink Antwerp’s intention is to start the service at the beginning of the fruit and vegetable season. However, the deficit of truck drivers in the United Kingdom is altering its plans, as it is currently difficult to find drivers to distribute the perishable products that arrive in Portsmouth.
The parties interested in the project trust that the truck driver deficit in the United Kingdom will soon be solved so this project can become a reality. “It is an economically, logistically, and environmentally viable service that will complement road transport,” stated Jesus Caicedo, who highlighted the great interest shown by the logistics sector to bring the project to fruition.
