The Direction General of the Ports and Airports summons companies that operate party boats to make sure that they have filed the corresponding notification beforehand

The Direction General of the Ports and Airports will have a string of meetings this month with the relevant departments and with the sector to address the decisions made already last summer regarding the party boats and to explain the measures of control carried out by the Direction General, according to its competence.

Such measures consist of sending requisitions to companies that carry out activities of tourist transport, party boats being counted as such, and who are required by the Law of Maritime Transport to present a prior notification to the Direction General. These requisitions allow for the control of the boats and whether they comply with the necessary requirements. The requisitions also facilitate the proper identification of the boats and help to identify those who have not complied with the requirement of prior notice.

Added to these controls are the inspections by the Direction General that were started already last summer in the ports to confirm whether a prior notice of the party boat activity had been given. It has to be clarified that in the case of not having presented a prior notice, the boat can be demanded to do so or its activity will be stopped, independently from the start of sanction proceedings according to the above mentioned Law of Maritime Transport.

To present date a total of 34 companies dedicated to tourist transport have been identified, out of which 33 had presented the required prior notification, although only one of them had all the correct documentation. For this reason, the other 32 have been requested to supplement the pending documentation. In fact, 16 of them have already started the revision process.

Of the total of 34 identified companies, one, based in Ibiza, had not presented the obligatory notification, so the pertinent sanction proceedings have been initiated in the case.

On the other hand, of the identified companies, three had not informed which boat or boats they were going to operate, therefore the Direction General has requested this information in order to know the full range of boats in operation, which at the moment count up to 50.

With the intention to inform about the controls activated by the Direction General and to reaffirm to the sector the necessity to present the required notification, the Director General of the Ports and Airports, Antonio Deudero, will have a meeting this week with the Balearic Provincial Association of Companies of Maritime Activity (APEAM), which gathers together all the companies in the Balearics that carry out activities at sea or in the port. At the same time, the department makes itself available to help with the processing of the required documentation. 

Similarly, and with an aim to follow up the control measures and actions of each relevant department, a meeting between all the institutions involved is planned towards the end of the month.