The Port of Valencia recently hosted Information Days on the master plan of the European project Monitoring and Operation Services for Motorways of the Sea (MOS4MOS).
The European Union has recognised the Motorways of the Sea as the way forward within its new transport policy until 2050, detailed in the White Paper released in April 2011.
José Laranjeira Anselmo, the chief administrator for the Trans-European Transport Network emphasized this during the opening session of the MOS4MOS Information Days in Valencia. Along with contributions from Laranjeira Anselmo; Ramón Gómez-Ferrer, the general manager of the Port Authority of Valencia; and Luis Valente de Oliveira, the European Coordinator for the Motorways of the Sea; the vision and work of the 28 partners of the European project was recognised.
Within the new policy, the Motorways of the Sea are essential for the tackling of the challenges of road congestion and pollution. Laranjeira Anselmo stressed that the European organisations will invest a minimum of €32bn in transport networks up to 2020, a number which, in addition to shipping, will significantly affect the existing rail transportation networks. It is in the links between the major nodes of European logistics where the ports’ function will play a “fundamental role”, according to Luis Valente de Oliveira.
All of the transport networks should begin and end at the ports, and to this end the need for successful coordination among the participants from four different European countries is vital. This is what MOS4MOS seeks to foster, coordination and cooperation among professionals coming from different European countries.
The European project MOS4MOS aims to improve the cost and time efficiency of short sea shipping corridors and to facilitate the development of trans-European transport networks. The project works towards the development of ICT solutions to improve RoRo and container transport in the Motorways of the Sea between Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Greece.
The project is scheduled to release its findings next spring, and aims to increase and improve the integration of different transport modes involved in the motorways of the sea, road, and rail. With the participation of 28 organisations from the four countries, the project consortium is formed from port authorities, terminal operators, railway companies and rail operators, shipping companies, NVOCCs and others.
The MOS4MOS Information Days celebrated the completion of the Master Plan of the project. The document listed some ICT challenges that exist within the European Motorways of the Sea as well as some suggested solutions. The next step of the MOS4MOS project is the prototyping stage, at which the project participants will develop the different proposals aiming to the improve container and RoRo transport between the four countries involved.
