Lack of mooring on Majorca

Lack of mooring on Majorca causes serious problems for charter boat operators

Nothing new, but every time more problematic. The increasing shortage of berths in the ports and marinas of Majorca, the largest Balearic island, is causing more and more problems for charter companies in particular. And this lack is also he issue pitting the port authority and charter operators against each other.

Inspections of charter boats have increased to ensure compliance with a ‘declaration of responsibility’ to verify insurance coverage, proper safety equipment and other permits and paperwork. But a larger issue for charters is the lack of proper moorings.
“The charter business has grown a great deal in recent years and is getting bigger and bigger. The directorate for maritime transport only requires a declaration of responsibility and not a mooring,” said PortsIB manager Cristina Barahona.

The lack of mooring is causing operators to anchor in unauthorised areas for passengers to load and unload, under risk of fines ranging from 6,000 and 30,000, so charter companies have asked the port authority to make such spaces available given the current waiting list for moorings.
Josep Pons, who operates a charter boat from Puerto Pollensa, is critical of how the moorings are being managed.

“All the auxiliary vessels (tenders) of boats anchored in the bay are crowded there,” he told the Majorca Daily Bulletin, arguing that there are two docks managed by PortsIB “which could provide us with an adequate space to carry out our activity.”
Barahona said there is no plan to utilise those docks because the area is not developed for commercial activity.

In May the Balearic Environment Commission issued a favourable report for the new general plan for ports in the islands would limit increased mooring space except where there is port reorganisation − and then only minimally and with an environmental assessment to justify an increase. In seeking to prevent new moorings, the environment commission argues that carrying capacity, both at ports and in the general marine environment, must be taken into account. It wants to avoid “saturation”.

Puerto Andratx currently has the longest waiting list for moorings for this type of vessel − 32 − and is followed by Sant Antoni de Portmany in Ibiza with 29, Puerto Pollensa with 27 and Ciutadella in Minorca also with 27, with no immediate plan in place to ease the congestion.