Azores Situation Report Wednesday 20th November 2024
Atlânticoline launches new tender for the acquisition of electric vessels in the Azores
Atlânticoline, a company that provides maritime transport for passengers and vehicles in the Azores, launched a new tender this Tuesday for the acquisition of two electric ships, after the previous one was cancelled.
The public tender for the “acquisition of two electric ships intended for the transport of passengers and vehicles in the Autonomous Region of the Azores” is published in the Official Gazette.
Interested parties have 30 days to submit proposals and the contract execution period is 480 days.
In April, the public company launched a public tender for the “construction of two electric ships intended for the transport of passengers and vehicles in the Autonomous Region of the Azores”.
The president of Atlânticoline’s board of directors, Isabel Dutra, had already admitted the possibility of the tender being cancelled, claiming that the winning consortium refused to sign the contract.
“Unfortunately, the tender did not have the outcome we were expecting, given that, after we had already awarded the proposal, the winning consortium requested changes, both to the execution deadline and to the technical characteristics of the vessels, changes that contradicted what was defined in the specifications”, explained Isabel Dutra, in statements to Lusa, in October.
According to the administrator of the public company, the winning consortium, made up of the companies Transinsular and Navaltagos, did not want to sign the contract due to Atlânticoline’s refusal to change the specifications, which provided for a budget of 25 million euros for the investment.
The carrier intends to access funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), which requires that the ships be acquired by 2025.
The execution schedule published on Atlânticoline’s website predicted that the tender for the acquisition would be concluded in the first quarter of 2024 and that the delivery of the vessels would take place in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Atlânticoline currently operates with five of its own vessels: the speedboat Ariel, with capacity for 12 passengers, the ships Cruzeiro das Ilhas and Cruzeiro do Canal, with capacity for 191 passengers each, and the ferries Mestre Jaime Feijó and Gilberto Mariano, capable of transporting, respectively, 333 passengers/13 vehicles and 296 passengers/10 vehicles.
The public company, which has around 120 employees, transports more than half a million passengers annually, the majority between the Faial/Pico canal, around five nautical miles.
Traders in the historic centre have high expectations for the festive season
All initiatives that promote a greater influx of people to the historic centre of Ponta Delgada during the Christmas period are welcome and an added value to traditional commerce, say traders.
There is still more than a month to go until Christmas, but this festive season is already bringing more people to the traditional shops in the historic centre of Ponta Delgada. Looking for ornaments and other decorative items, but also preparing to purchase their gifts.
Despite some initial pessimism, scepticism and all the current circumstances that lead to lower purchasing power on the part of Azorean families, traders reveal that they have good expectations for the entire period of this more festive season and conducive to greater consumerism.
Government of the Azores creates “Passe Açores 9 Ilhas” to encourage mobility
The Regional Government of the Azores has approved the resolution that creates the “Azores 9 Islands Pass”, which is only valid in the IATA winter season, to promote the mobility of residents throughout the archipelago
It is an intermodal air and sea pass, for single use and is a complementary measure to the Azores Tariff, which aims to provide mobility for residents across the nine islands of the archipelago, fostering proximity between Azoreans and effective knowledge of all the islands by residents of the Azores/
The rules of the “Passe Açores 9 Ilhas” are now being published, with each Azorean being able to make eight trips and choose the route they want to take.
It is the cost of the Azores Tariff, a regional fare that allows air travel for 60 euros (round trip) between islands for residents.