When we think about the arrival of a vessel to the port, the first thing we think about is the loading or discharging of the cargo. Even though this is not entirely incorrect, many ships have more specific requirements and needs upon arrival. This is where the role of the ship agent comes in, and this is what we chose to focus on in this post for our #DidYouKnow series.
Distance learning, digitalisation and courses that provide answers to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic will mark the evolution of the Escola Europea in the near future.
During the Steering Committee of the Escola Europea, held on the 22nd of April 2020, Catalina Grimalt for the Port of Barcelona and Mario Massaroti for the Grimaldi Group were added to the members of the Executive Committee. This was in accordance with the agreement adopted by the Governing Council presided over by the President of the Port of Barcelona, Mercè Conesa, and which also had the President of the Ports of Genoa, Paolo Emilio Signorini; the President of Ports of Rome, Antonio Maria di Majo; the CEO of GNV, Matteo Catani, and the members of the Executive Committee Eduard Rodés, Silvio Ferrando, Antonio Pedevila, Mario Massarotti, Catalina Grimalt, Pedro Arellano and Luca Lupi participated.
The Steering Committe also approved changes to the Academic Committee. Marta Miquel, representing the Escola Europea, and taking on the role of the secretary of the Committee; Lluis París for the Port of Barcelona; Leonardo Picozzi, representing the Ports of Genoa; Giovanni Marinucci for the Ports of Rome; and Agustí Martí for the Faculty of Nautics of Barcelona-UPC, were incorporated to the list of members.
As a result of the current global health crisis, new initiatives of the Escola Europea linked to the teaching of courses that combine an online part for theory and a physical part for practical workshops, as well as the development of new courses related to the safety and protection regulations that are going to be implemented as a consequence of COVID-19, have been approved.
The Committee was informed of the recent approval of two projects in the field of training and employment under the European Commission’s ENI-CBCMED programme. The YEP-MED project led by the Escola Europea with a budget of EUR 3 million and involving 7 countries from the Mediterranean basin; and the TECHLOG project led by the University of Cagliari with a budget of EUR 3,5 million. Both projects have a duration period of 30 months.
Some current issues were also discussed, such as the important work of the shipping companies in the repatriation of persons who were travelling at the time the state of emergency and lockdown were announced. President Conesa emphasized the importance of the collaboration of Grimaldi Lines and GNV, which has helped manage extremely complex situations.
The Council agreed to hold an emergency meeting at the end of June to better monitor developments in the overall situation.
In 2020, ten partners from seven countries bordering the Mediterranean have joined with a common objective to train young people with skills adjusted to the current market in logistics-port communities operating in the new Blue Economy. The partners will focus on the regions involved in the project, with the aim of promoting social inclusion and fight against poverty.
These actions will be carried out within the framework of a new European project titled YEP-MED (Young Employment in Ports of the Mediterranean) co-financed by the European Neighbouring Instrument – Cross-Border Cooperation in the Mediterranean (ENI CBCMED) programme. The project, which will count on the amount of 3,000,000 euros of funds for its development, will work towards a better preparation of skills required by the port-logistics labour market – a sector with a high growth potential – through vocational training.
The project, led by the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, aims to develop port-logistics training and vocational (TVET) resources adapted to sector needs to strengthen youth employability; increase and upgrade local employment opportunities through the creation of real dual-learning programmes with job placements, strengthening the role of SME’s operating in the port ecosystems for future employment creation; and setting up collaborative national and transnational partnerships between port-logistics associations, operators, SMEs, training centres and VET providers, whilst introducing a PPP co-management process.
The project counts on the participation of partners from Spain, Italy, France, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, including public administrations such as Port de Barcelona (Spain), Autorità Portuale Mar Tirreno Centro Settentrionale (Italy), Port de Marseille-Fos (France), Damieta Port Authority (Egypt), Office de la Marine Marchande et des Ports (Tunisia), Aqaba Development Corporation (Jordan) and Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Beirut (Lebanon), as well as training centres in each of the countries such as the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport and Fundación Valenciaport (Spain), Arab Academy (Egypt) and Institut Méditerranéen de Formation aux Métiers Maritimes (Tunisia). As associated entities, MEDPorts Association and Consell Valencià de la Joventut will also join the project.
Throughout 30 months, the partners and associates of the project will implement tools to achieve the main objectives of this initiatives, in the short, medium and long terms.
For more information on the project or on the Escola Europea, you can write an email to: info@escolaeuropea.eu.
On the 17th of April, the constitutive meeting of the Academic Committee for Formati al Porto took place, convened by the President of the project Prof. Andrea Campagna and the Director of Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport Eduard Rodés. The meeting was held virtually by videoconference.
Formati al Porto, strongly supported by the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea Central Authority (AdSP del Mar Tirreno Centro Settentrionale) and the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport – aims to make it easier for today’s students, and thus future professionals, to gain access to the knowledge of the professions in the logistics sector, with a particular focus on the maritime industry and intermodal transport.
The participants who joined the meeting from the safety of their homes were: Dr. Luca Lupi and Dr. Giovanni Marinucci representing the AdSP of the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea Centre, the Councillor for Education Policy Claudia Pescatori for the City of Civitavecchia, Prof. Mauro Adamo for ITC “G. Baccelli“, Dr. Antonio Errigo for ALIS, Dr. Francesco Beltrano for Confitarma, Dr. Brandimarte for Assarmatori, Dr. Stefano Cenci for Unindustria and the project coordinator Marco Muci from the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport.
For the first time in the Escola’s history videoconferencing has succeeded in bringing together such a high number of entities from the Italian maritime cluster and the intermodal logistics sector. Among the topics covered were the presentation of the project itself and the results achieved so far, the proposal of new contents and the quality of the courses for 2021, the acquisition of new partners, and the possibilities of enriching the current training offer, through the inclusion of online courses.
The Academic Committee is committed to supporting the project, relying mainly on the human factor, i.e. the young students, and on the local territories themselves. The main objective is to create a well-prepared logistic community, able to face future challenges and to strategically place Civitavecchia at the forefront of the Mediterranean logistic activity.
The role of “Formati al Porto” is to bring students into direct contact with the community and port activities, to learn the characteristics of the professions related to the world of ports through direct exposure to the surroundings. In addition, the project aims to lessen the disconnect between between the qualifications required by companies and the skills offered by the educational system, thus promoting the creation of quality employment through the possibility of the school-work placements.
The training, as is the case with the Escola’s courses, is carried out by experts and professionals from the Italian and Spanish sectors, ensuring participants get high quality educational contents. The teaching team is composed of representatives of companies and institutions directly involved in the management of short sea shipping and sustainable logistics in Italy,
For more information, you can visit the project’s web page:
The European railway system transports around 1.6 billion tonnes of freight each year. The railway is central to the EU’s strategy for a more sustainable transport sector, helping ensure economic and social cohesion and connecting Europeans within and between Member States.
The density of the national rail networks reflects the different geographical characteristics of the countries, with the Nordic and Baltic countries having the lowest rail network density on the continent.
Rail has the potential to play an important role in accelerating the reduction of transport emissions. “Rail only represented 2% of total transport energy consumption in the EU, while representing for 11.2% of freight and 6.6% of passengers in all modes of transport in 2016” (data from the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the European Council, 2019). However, rail freight also has a number of other advantages: improved safety of goods compared to other means, lower accident rates, more storage capacity as a large volume of cargo can be transported over very long distances, and the potential for intermodality, if necessary.
Maintaining and renewing the existing network to improve safety and operational performance as well as ensuring a reliable service is a major challenge for infrastructure managers, especially in the face of increased traffic and demanding performance targets set by national authorities and operators.
This results in a number of disadvantages that caused this means to not be one of the most used for the transport of goods. It is conditional on the existence of infrastructures that are non-existent in some European countries. In addition, this means that, unlike other means, there are very few occasions when it can reach the warehouse or the final destination of the goods without the help of complementary means (such as the road).
Mandatory Intermodality
Rail transport falls under the intermodality umbrella, as it requires road transport to chauffer the goods from the point of origin to the railways, and to their final destinations. Rail gauge: The width of the gauge can differ from one country to another, which can cause difficulties in the transhipment of goods, and thus result in a significant increase in the expense of money and time.
The EU’s railways continue to grow. Rail markets are gradually opening up and safety levels remain high. This sector is increasingly demanding in terms of performance, innovation and responsiveness to customer needs. Rail transport’s fight to increase its modal share remains centered around interoperability and cross-border coordination issues. Corridors are a key part of the Commission’s policy to boost rail freight. The Rail Freight Regulation and the train drivers Directive are still being evaluated in order to boost and facilitate rail transport.
Spain
In Spain, the railway represents around 4% of the total freight transport market. This market share has decreased in recent years in favour of road transport. Although part of this trend is common to other countries, the rail market share in Spain is much smaller. For example, rail represents 19% of the total goods market in Germany and 15% in France – nearly four times the Spanish equivalent.
If the sector can convince transporters to opt for rail motorways to reduce costs, and get exporters and importers to bring their goods to the ports through the use of the rail, it is likely to grow in the coming years.
To improve international rail freight traffic, France and Spain have re-launched two rail motorways between the two countries, through a call for expressions of interest. This marks the first step in finding out whether or not the infrastructure is viable in the region.
Intrigued? The Escola organises courses focusing in particular on maritime rail and maritime-road intermodal solutions, called SURCO. Contact us if you’d like to know more and to find out when the next courses will take place.
Written by: