The global maritime industry has stopped viewing sustainability as a public relations exercise and is treating it as a critical financial solvency variable. In this context, the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, presided over by Pedro Suárez, will become the epicenter of the energy debate on March 11, 2026, with the celebration of the III Conference on Cruise Tourism and Sustainability. The event, organized by the Chair of Blue Economy (ULL-Tenerife Ports), distances itself from the conventional narrative of electrifying docks to address the real ‘elephant in the room’: the technical and regulatory viability of alternative fuels in the outermost regions (RUP).
The agenda of the meeting, which will be held at the operational site of the AIDAcosma vessel, will kick off with a high-level regulatory intervention. Benito Núñez Quintanilla, General Secretary of Transport at the Ministry, will detail the regulatory challenges faced by the RUP. For ports like Tenerife, the European Union’s legislative pressure (Fit for 55) demands a precarious balance: achieving decarbonization without losing competitiveness against neighboring third-country ports that are not subject to the same emissions levies.
The operational analysis will be led by Airam Díaz Pastor, Deputy Director of the Port Authority, who will define the new role of ports not only as transport nodes but as providers of multivector energy. Meanwhile, Carlos Efrén Mora, Director of the Chair, will address the technical complexity of achieving ‘zero emissions’ while ships are docked, a challenge that requires perfect synchronization between onboard technology and land infrastructure.
The strategic core of the conference lies in its round table, moderated by Santiago Yanes (Net Zero Mar). The presence of Nerea Chacartegui (Enagás) and Carlos Giner (Moeve) ensures a debate on the reality of supply. As the sector calls for green methanol and ammonia, energy giants must decide where to position their storage investments. The participation of Juan Jesús Reyes (Port of Algeciras) and Elena Seco (ANAVE) will provide a perspective on the competition between hubs and the difficulties faced by shipowners in renewing fleets in an environment of technological uncertainty. The conference will culminate with the pragmatic vision of Tommy Müller, captain of the AIDAcosma, who will offer firsthand testimony on managing a marine giant in the era of energy transition.
