STORY: Spanish ports coping with goods congestion in Mediterranean due to Red Sea disruption
SHOOTING TIME: May 7, 2024
DATELINE: May 8, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:14
LOCATION: BARCELONA, Spain
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the ports
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): CARLA SALVADO, Deputy general manager of Commercial and Marketing at Port of Barcelona
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): CARLA SALVADO, Deputy general manager of Commercial and Marketing at Port of Barcelona
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Catalan): CARLA SALVADO, Deputy general manager of Commercial and Marketing at Port of Barcelona

STORYLINE:

Spain's Mediterranean ports in Barcelona, Valencia and Algeciras say that they are coping with a surge in goods traffic as maritime trade between Asia and Europe is diverted due to attacks on ships in the Red Sea. 

Many shipping companies have chosen to avoid the threat in the Red Sea by sending their ships around Africa's Cape of Good Hope and then into the western Mediterranean. This has led to increased container traffic in Spanish ports.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): CARLA SALVADO, Deputy General Manager of Commercial and Marketing at Port of Barcelona
"We're aware that we're dealing with the challenge of an exponential rise of traffic in our port. But the port is ready. Our terminals are the most productive in Europe, so in terms of infrastructure, we're prepared."

Container traffic in Spanish ports this year has risen by more than 11 percent, according to maritime research consultancy Drewry.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): CARLA SALVADO, Deputy General Manager of Commercial and Marketing at Port of Barcelona
"What we will continue to do is try to provide solutions, above all to our exporters and importers, and also help as much as we can to distribute goods around the eastern Mediterranean in the most fluid way possible."

Conversely, ports in the eastern and central Mediterranean, such as Gioia Tauro (Italy) and Piraeus (Greece), have faced reductions in goods traffic of between 18 and 31 percent.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Catalan): CARLA SALVADO, Deputy General Manager of Commercial and Marketing at Port of Barcelona
"Even if this conflict were to end tomorrow, the situation would not return to normal until next year. We're not expecting an immediate end to these disruptions and changes to routes."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Barcelona, Spain.
(XHTV)