Tag Archive for: Port de Barcelona

A 2,000-Year Journey: A Roman Amphora Arrives at the Escola Europea’s classroom

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At the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, we are always exploring new ways to make education immersive and meaningful. This week, we took a symbolic leap into the past with the addition of a unique historical artifact to our training space: an original Roman amphora recovered from the Illes Formigues I shipwreck site off the coast of Palamós.

Thanks to a collaboration with the Consorci de les Drassanes Reials i Museu Marítim de Barcelona, the amphora has been entrusted to the Escola in a renewable four-year loan. It is now on display in the Aula dels Estels, located in the Drassanes terminal of the Port of Barcelona—one of our main training classrooms.

Intermodality Across Millennia

This ovoid amphora (Haltern 70 type, small/early variant) now forms part of our Forma’t al Port training programme, which covers port terminal operations, intermodal transport, and logistics. By integrating this ancient container into our teaching, we aim to draw a direct line between past and present logistics practices.

Amphorae were once standardised cargo transport vessels, not unlike today’s containers or semi-trailers. Their use in the ancient Mediterranean is a powerful reminder that intermodality has deep historical roots.

Logistics in Service of Heritage

The transfer and installation of the amphora were managed with utmost care by TM2, a company specialising in industrial packaging solutions. Their team designed a custom-built security box, applied specialist protective materials, and arranged safe transport from the Maritime Museum to our facility—ensuring the artifact’s integrity throughout the journey.

This operation highlights how modern logistics can support the preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage.

The “Amphora Operation” is more than a symbolic gesture—it reflects our commitment to educational innovation, sustainability, and the dialogue between ancient wisdom and modern logistics.

A Milestone Event

To mark the arrival of the amphora, an official event was held at the Drassanes terminal with representatives from all participating organisations:

  • Enric García, Director, Museu Marítim de Barcelona
  • Eduard Rodés, Director, Escola Europea
  • Francesc Bonada, Head of Organisation and Sustainability, Port of Barcelona
  • M. Dolors Jurado Jiménez, Head of Collection Management, Museu Marítim
  • Mònica Jiménez, Director, TM2
  • Marta Miquel, BDO, Escola Europea
  • Reyes Durá, Head of Administration, Escola Europea
  • Carmen Sánchez, Sustainability Officer, Port of Barcelona

From Ancient Markings to Modern Maps

Beyond exhibition purposes, this initiative opens new avenues for education and research. The Escola will explore ancient systems of identification and sealing used on amphorae—historical equivalents to modern tracking codes and security seals.

In parallel, our team will investigate ancient amphora production sites near Barcelona, developing maps and infographics that visualise their commercial networks and manufacturing footprint in antiquity.

Escola presents its current and future projects and training to Lluís Salvadó, the President of the Port of Barcelona

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As part of his welcome and incorporation into the presidency of the Port of Barcelona, Lluís Salvadó visited the Barcelona headquarters of the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport (Escola Europea), a key player within the Port Community, to learn about new training initiatives and future projects.

On the 21st of February 2023, Lluis Salvadó, President of the Port of Barcelona and Chairman of the Governing Board of the Escola Europea, together with Catalina Grimalt Falcó, Deputy Director General for Organisation and Internal Resources of the Port of Barcelona and Member of the Executive Board, both representing the Port Authority of Barcelona, visited the headquarters of the Escola Europea to learn about the new training initiatives organised and promoted by the training centre, as well as the innovation, digitalisation and sustainable development projects of which the Escola is a part.

Welcoming the  visitors were the Eduard Rodés – Director of the Escola Europea, Concha Palacios – the Financial Director and Head of Projects, Marta Miquel – Business Development Manager, Mireia Ferré – Director of the Technical Office of Sustainability of the Port of Barcelona, Mireia Ferre, and, connected virtually from the headquarters of the Escola Europea in Civitavecchia (Italy), Marco Muci – the Country Manager for Italy.

At the meeting, the Escola’s training activities at both local and international levels were presented, which included Forma’t al Port Talent, the technical courses in maritime intermodality MOST – Motorways of the Sea Training, rail freight transport – SURCO, and management of temperature-controlled logistics chains, together with the training work carried out in Italy within the framework of the Formati al Porto programme and the GLIPS (Management of Integrated Logistics and Maritime Processes) training in Civitavecchia.

The training offer presentation was followed by a summary of the annual participation figures for the previous year, in which a record number of participants was broken with more than 5,542 participants. Of those, 2,111 were students from training and technical courses and 3,431 attended workshops and maritime visits in the Port of Barcelona. The participation figures forecast for the year 2023 showed an estimated 6% growth in student participation of logistics courses and workshops is planned.

The projects that have been consolidated by the institution were also presented to the Catalan port’s leadership: the YEP MED project – Youth Employment in Ports of the Mediterranean – with which a training offer on port logistics has been presented; and the TECHLOG project – Technological Transfer for Logistics Innovation in Mediterranenan area – which foresees the implementation of two ‘Living Labs’ from which the development of innovation actions with simulator technology is foreseen. Both European projects are financed by ENI CBC MED, in which different Mediterranean port communities are participating.

As part of the strategy of consolidation and evolution of the European YEP MED project, the Escola developed the Port Virtual Lab, a virtual simulation laboratory of a port community portvirtuallab.com.

In the photo are from left to right: Director of the Escola Europea, Eduard Rodés, Lluis Salvadó, President of the Port of Barcelona, Financial Director and Head of Projects, Concha Palacios, General Business Director, Marta Miquel, Catalina Grimalt Falcó, Deputy Director General for Organisation and Internal Resources, and Mireia Ferre, Director of the Port of Barcelona’s Technical Office for Sustainability.

In addition, some of the projects that point to the future and are in line with the trends of the Blue Economy, and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), were presented to respond to the training and innovation needs of the industry.