Nautical charter companies approach the Port Náutic to rent out empty moorings

«Companies of the nautical sectofrom Ibiza are very desperate to have a mooring this season», highlighted yesterday Ramón Van Der Hooft, president of the Ibiza and Formentera Nautical Association integrated into Pimeef.

In this sense, he pointed out to Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera that there are companies from nautical charter from the island who have spoken with representatives of Port Nàutic Ibiza to rent the amarres empty. «The sector is in great need of these elements right now and they have seen the opportunity in the port of Ibiza with the flight of base vessels to other docks due to the increase in rates," highlighted Ramón Van Der Hooft, highlighting that, fortunately, he remains out of this situation because his company does not have that urgent need for moorings, since "they did their homework before the season started." Along the same lines, he added that, taking into account the large increase in fees by the Port Náutic, not even these nautical charter companies could afford to pay so much money "for a little piece of water."

"The only ones who out of desperation can jump into the pool and rent a mooring with these conditions is this nautical sector, but in October they will see that it has not been profitable," he noted. Without going any further, he pointed out that in order to cover expenses these nautical companies would have to make between 80 and 100 boat trips during the season. «Before, it was enough to make 60 boat trips to recover the investment; "It is our daily concern," he stated, lamenting that the nautical charter sector pays a lot of money in Ibiza to be able to maintain itself.

In this regard, he denounced how intrusion within this sector is the biggest burden. «There are companies without moorings that operate from the coves and leave with less expense; "We are experiencing an unsustainable situation that is out of control," said Ramón Van Der Hooft, stating that he is clear about who is most responsible for this situation: "The only organization that benefits from nautical management is the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands, which earns large amounts of money every year," he stressed.

In this sense, the president of the Ibiza and Formentera Nautical Association pointed out that this organization earns close to 30 million annually. "They are the only ones who make money," he said. Following this information provided by Ramón Van Der Hooft, this newspaper contacted Carlos Illa, sole administrator of the new concessionaire Puertos y Litorales Sostenibles, but could not speak with this person in charge about these approaches with the nautical charter companies because Illa stated "be working."

Nor did the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands advance anything after asking if the Port Náutic Ibiza had considered modifying the clause in the specifications for the operation of the facilities that determines the management of the mooring service for pleasure boats.

This section establishes that "the ownership of the new vessels that are authorized in the facility will be of natural persons or legal entities and that, in the case of legal entities, in no case may the vessels belong to companies or commercial entities whose activity is the leasing or charter of the vessel.

Base Vessels

This contract also establishes that the mooring positions will preferably be used for base vessels, with the transient user being somewhat more residual with 15% of the moorings out of the total number of units. This means that of the 270 moorings in total, about 40 are intended for transient or passing vessels, which are those that, not being a base, are authorized to stay in the port for a limited period.

«These pleasure boats intended for nautical rental are prohibited from entering the base port; In the case of berths for transients, there is nothing stipulated in relation to this sector," highlighted the director of the Ibiza Yacht Club, Vicent Canals, highlighting that currently there are already ships registered on the sixth list recognized in the previous contract in the base port. For her part, Nahiara Cardona, president of the CNI Boat Riders Association, confirmed that, indeed, the current specifications establish that the boat cannot be used for charter in the home port.

Regarding said contract, he stressed that, in the case of wanting to rent these moorings to these companies, no clause in the specifications can be modified because, in order to do so, the APB would have to call the tender again and start over. from scratch. "If the APB consents to this change it would be outrageous because there is a contest with certain conditions and now it turns out that they want to change the rules of the game," lamented Cardona, referring to the new requests for a home port for these pleasure boats.

Boats that, taking into account the increase in rates, Cardona ironically said that the current fees could only be paid by these companies that are dedicated to charter: «Individuals cannot pay between 50,000 and 60,000 euros per year for mooring. . So I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to change the conditions," she lamented.

SOURCE: Periódico de Ibiza.