[This story has been updated on 26 June 2014] The port of Vigo in north-west Spain is consolidating its position as a leading transhipment hub for finished vehicles in the region. In early June, the specialist ro-ro terminal in Bouzas handled five car carriers in one week, generating traffic of 4,500 finished vehicles, of which 4,200 were exported to destinations including Nantes-Saint Nazaire, Tanger-Med, Tunis and Zeebrugge.
PSA Peugeot Citröen, which has a local manufacturing plant, generated around 3,200 of the vehicles being handled, followed by Toyota, which accounted for 1,300 units.
Of the five vessels, the Galicia, working on behalf of Vapores Suardíaz, was inbound from Zeebrugge. It discharged three vehicles and one piece of machinery, but then loaded 434 PSA cars bound for Morocco and the Canary islands of Gran Canaria (Las Palmas) and Tenerife.
The Suar Vigo, which had arrived from Saint Nazaire, carried eight vehicles and 68 semi-trailers, totalling 1,600 tons. It then loaded 640 PSA and Renault vehicles, 44 semi-trailers and 11 trailers bound for France and weighing a combined 2,100 tons.
Neptune Lines' Neptune Odyssey came to Vigo from Casablanca to pick up 1,300 PSA vehicles (1,400 tons) for delivery to the port of Tunis.
The Poseidon Leader, operated by NYK, for its part, was operating its regular service linking Durban with Zeebrugge. Upon arrival at Vigo, it offloaded 300 Toyota vehicles (420 tons) and loaded 1,000 others totalling 1,200 tons.
Finally, the Autopride, owned and operated by UECC taking on board 850 vehicles built at the nearby PSA Peugeot Citröen plant bound for Zeebrudge.
Last year Vigo Port Authority approved a reduction in storage fees for finished vehicles. Irrespective of whether vehicles are kept in the port's vertical storage facility or at the Bouzas Ferry Terminal, fees charged for up to three days are now the same, a reduction of almost 70% on the previous system (read more).
