Decision to raise mooring and unmooring costs faces opposition from real-economy employers
Fedeport is part of the leadership of the Confederación Canaria de Empresarios (CCE) Las Palmas, and the Chamber of Commerce of Las Palmas is described as a form of soft power. The Port Authority of Las Palmas has decided to sharply raise the cost of the simple act of tying a ship to a bollard (noray), to 600 euros. The regulator is processing, via an extraordinary procedure, a substantial modification to the tender that governs the mooring and unmooring service, with opposition from the two industry associations representing the real economy: Asolcelpa and Oneport.
The administrative decision, the article says, hides an employers’ battle in the background of the Las Palmas docks, where one business faction absorbs the direct economic impact of the surcharges, while the leadership that backs the service provider anticipates an improvement to its profit margins. The associations of the cargo brokers are said to be in favor.
Sepcan singled out as the main operator; board to validate new tariff map
Tracing the money leads to the main operator in this activity. The concessionaire is Sepcan. The company operates under the direct umbrella of José Juan Socas, president of Fedeport, the port federation acting as a corporate containment wall and as an extension of the interests of the Greek subsidiary of Grupo Laskadiris in the Canary Islands, Astican. The previous tender, in force since April 2021, is now settled, and the board of directors will soon validate a tariff schedule that secures the dominant position of the Astican–Sepcan axis, raises operational entry barriers, and forces shipping agents to finance a facility that prioritizes revenue volume over commercial agility.
Greek yogurt Sepcan
Fedeport and CCE leadership keep silent; consignees oppose the increase
Fedeport—an employers’ association in which dockworkers are included and which is a member of the Confederación Canaria de Empresarios—keeps a strict silence on the tariff hike. The lack of opposition, the article says, underscores full alignment with the text drafted by the Port Authority. On the other side of the dispute, those who pay the invoices operate. Consignees grouped in the long-established Asocelpa and companies integrated in Oneport lead the rejection of a higher cost that directly erodes the competitiveness of their logistics operations.
The associations now have a narrow window of ten days, opened in the middle of August’s peak summer season, to submit allegations and try to stop a document designed to inflate the facility’s cost structure.
Port Authority says the change is driven by increased traffic complexity
The official argument advanced by the Port Authority to justify the review is rooted in the growing complexity of maritime traffic. The simultaneity of operations in the capital’s docks—Salinetas and Arinaga—combined with the arrival of ships of increasingly larger dimensions, serves as the basis for demanding a radical redesign of human and material resources.
The draft imposes a 60% expansion of the minimum staffing required for the operating company led by Fedeport’s president. The number of mooring workers deployed per shift will rise from 10 to 16 professionals. The document’s fine print specifies that 12 of these workers—two foremen and ten mooring workers—must maintain a permanent, on-site physical presence at the quay. The remaining four will be assigned to a localized standby roster, prepared to intervene in emergencies or unplanned traffic diversions.
Night shift reduces two mooring workers; additional vehicles required
The night shift, set between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., slightly eases this pressure by reducing the number of mooring workers in physical monitoring by two, while keeping the standby scheme intact. The increase in the wage bill, the article says, drags fixed capital requirements. The support land fleet will have to incorporate an additional unit, increasing from three to four all-terrain assistance vehicles. On the maritime front, the current deployment is consolidated: four operating vessels, three based in Las Palmas and one prominently in Arinaga to provide coverage for industrial activity in the south.
Penalties and higher surcharges linked to timing and special maneuvers
Financial pressure on shipping lines rises through the restructuring of time bands and the imposition of a strict chronometric penalty. The resolution simplifies the general billing tables from 15 to 11 tiers based on tonnage, but introduces a severe economic penalty for so-called special maneuvers.
Imagine 16 ropes (cabos). Any berthing operation that exceeds 80 minutes in duration, requires platform repositioning, involves the movement of moored vessels, or requires the laying of more than sixteen lines will trigger an uncompromising surcharge. The additional cost rises to 431.10 euros for each hour of extraordinary maneuvering—an income-collection mechanism that, according to the article, will wipe out operators’ narrow margins on days of high congestion.
Labour consumes nearly all concession revenue; fuel and repairs marginal
The file validates that labor consumes almost entirely the concessionaire’s income. The new cost-review formula establishes that salaries account for 81.38% of the service’s economic structure. Operational items are minimized in this recalculation: fuel is listed at a mere 1.06%, naval repairs represent 1.39%, and transport insurance does not exceed 0.88%.
The article La entrada Fedeport, Cámara de Comercio y CCE de Las Palmas apoyan la subida de factura del amarre portuario was first published on canarymaritime.com.
