The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport said today that the creation of an Atlantic hub for the maritime transport of cargo from and to Europe should be defended "by the Government of the Azores and the National Government as well."

Speaking at a meeting organised by the Regional Section of the Portuguese Association of Engineers on the theme "The Sea and Engineering as the Development Pillars of the Autonomous Region of the Azores," Vítor Fraga stressed that the National Government should join the Azores in this matter and establish influence in the European Union to "guarantee the future of this project."

Taking into account the good acceptance of the project by the European bodies that have already been consulted by the Regional Government on this matter, the President of the Government conveyed to the Secretary of State for Maritime Affairs, who also attended the event, that the National Government has an important role in raising awareness and creating influence to ensure the development of this project of national interest.

Vítor Fraga noted that the creation of an Atlantic hub in Praia da Vitória is not "a solution for the short-term," but rather a "major challenge." Hence, it is necessary that this task be undertaken by everyone involved in this project."

The Regional Secretary reminded the existence of a very significant container traffic volume between North and South American, Africa and Europe and, in this context, our major challenge is "to have the capacity to capture part of this traffic to the Region.”

With the creation of this hub, it is possible to abandon the current transport system and implement a new one that has the capacity "to use smaller vessels and boost the distribution of cargo to mid-sized ports throughout Europe." This new system allows the reduction of road and rail traffic in Europe, bringing effective economic and environmental gains."

Vítor Fraga also noted that the Azores are still waiting for the National Government to move forward with the implementation of the Marine Traffic Control System (VTS) in the Region.