Aspects that can be improved in the Ro-Ro terminals of the Port of Santander

Abstract

The port of Santander is a modern and specialised port that stands out for its competitiveness in mar itime traffic which, in turn, requires a high quality logistic offer. Santander port has especially fostered road freight traffic (Ro-Ro) due to its invaluable generation of wealth and jobs, directly affecting the competitiveness of the industrial and commercial area it serves. The port of Santander average accu mulated annual growth rate over the last five years (2015-2019) was higher than that one of the Spanish state-owned ports, highlighting the increase experienced in the movement of general goods and, within this, Ro-Ro traffic, and consolidating the port of Santander as the best Ro-Ro port on the northern coast of Spain. The growth expectations of the port make it necessary to study the current situation of the vehicle terminals in order to be able to meet the demands of the logistics agents operating in the port. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to analyse the logistics of the port of Santander in order to detect the aspects that can be improved in relation to competitiveness, operativity and the quality of the service provided by the port in the Ro-Ro terminals. To this end, once the aspects related to Ro-Ro traffic in the port of Santander are known, the aspects related to competitiveness, operability and quality of service that can be improved are identified. Finally, some improvement proposals are made: initiatives aimed at eliminating incidents due to dirt and atmospheric phenomena in vehicles; the extension of spaces for the storage of vehicles; and the implementation of Technology 4.0 for the provision of port services.