Port of Valencia slowly gets back to work after floods from rainstorms

Port of Valencia slowly gets back to work after floods from rainstorms

The Load Star — 2024-11-04

Members Corner

Valencia Port is limping back to cargo activity after it was forced to halt operations in the aftermath of severe rainstorms that lashed the country’s south-eastern region last week.

The devastation from what was said to be the severest flash-flooding in Europe over the past five decades, is reported to have claimed some 100 lives.

Container lines have reported work resumption at Valencia on a “restricted scale”, as multiple landside challenges persist.

Hapag-Lloyd told customers the rain had caused significant disruption to its operations at the port, but added it was making every effort to regain its operational pace as soon as conditions permitted.

“Terminals have resumed gate and yard activities with reduced staffing, as road closures and access restrictions continue to affect the region,” Hapag-Lloyd said. “All depots in the area are temporarily closed due to electricity outages and accessibility challenges.”

Due to widespread damage to infrastructure systems, road closures continued to be reported, keeping truck flow at a standstill or seriously disrupted.

According to reports, rail infrastructure also needed major repairs, and the German carrier added: “New rail bookings for export cargo from Madrid to Valencia are currently on hold until operations are fully restored.”

Valencia is the second-largest port in Spain, after Algeciras, and the fifth busiest in Europe. It saw some 2.7m teu in H1 24, up 14% year on year, according to available data.

Spanish ports have seen significant volume buildups since the Red Sea crisis began. Barcelona, for example, reported a 23% increase in volumes, causing capacity pressures.

Carla Salvado, deputy general manager of commercial, said: “The port has seen exponential traffic increase, particularly in transhipments, because ships bound for the eastern Mediterranean stop here, and then smaller vessels are used to handle the final leg of their journeys.”

Officials expect Barcelona to end the year with a record throughput of 4m teu, versus the 3.3m teu it saw in 2023.

Red Sea-linked, rerouted transhipments boosted volume levels across most hub ports, including in Asia.  Sri Lanka’s Colombo saw volumes swell 23.6% in H1, putting significant pressure on its capacity to handle the stronger-than-expected demand.

Singapore port also had to deal with major landside congestion and vessel delays, due to transhipment surges.