The Spanish Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and Canada’s Ministry of Transport have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding to promote the creation of a green maritime corridor across the Atlantic Ocean. The protocol, signed by Minister Óscar Puente and his Canadian counterpart, Steven MacKinnon, establishes the political and institutional framework for connecting Canada’s main eastern port hubs —with a particular focus on the facilities in Halifax and Montreal— with a selection of strategic ports on the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands.
The initiative provides for a multi-port, multi-jurisdictional connectivity framework designed to accelerate the energy transition on maritime freight routes. The integration of Spain’s network includes the ports of Algeciras, A Coruña, Bilbao and the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The inclusion of the Tenerife port strengthens the Canary Islands’ profile as a clean logistics platform in the central Atlantic, placing its docks on the supply map for new clean energy alternatives.
Zero-emission fuels and public-private partnership
The green maritime corridor will promote the adoption of low- and zero-emission vessels, encouraging the use of alternative fuels —such as green ammonia, renewable methanol and clean hydrogen— and the deployment of decarbonized propulsion technologies throughout the entire life cycle, from energy production to onboard consumption. The final selection of specific trade routes, applicable technologies and daily operations will depend on the development of subsequent agreements between the respective port authorities, shipping companies, clean energy producers and logistics operators involved.
This bilateral project joins the climate partnerships that Spain’s port system maintains with other global hubs. Major ports such as Barcelona, Algeciras and Valencia have previous commitments to create decarbonized corridors with port infrastructure in China, Panama and Brazil. With this new international commitment, the Port of Tenerife aims to attract new calls by sustainable fleets, anticipating the environmental requirements imposed by the European Union on international maritime traffic.
The article Tenerife’s capital port joins the Atlantic corridor network linking Spain and Canada was first published on canarymaritime.com.
