Barcelona, 4th June 2008 – ADELTE, the world leading designer and manufacturer of sophisticated passenger boarding bridges for cruise and ferry terminals has recently been awarded a contract by cruise operator Creuers del Port de Barcelona S.A. to design, manufacture and deliver by March 2009 a moveable and modern passenger boarding bridge (PBB) of the HYDRA range to service the new cruise terminal building on the Adossat quay in the port of Barcelona, Spain.
Creuers del Port de Barcelona S.A. operates five cruise terminals at the port of Barcelona. Cruise Terminal A, which came into operation in Abril 2008 is similar to Cruise Terminal B (inaugurated in 2005 and also operated by Creuers) and both have the capacity to handle turnaround operations of mega cruise ships with up to 4000 passengers.
In March 2007 Creuers initiated construction works of the new Cruise Terminal A, which included demolishing the old building, constructing a new-generation state-of-the-art building according to the same standards of quality, safety and services applied to Terminal B. The new terminal currently has one PBB of the HYDRA range provided by ADELTE earlier this year and to which a second unit will be added in 2009.
The contract signed by Creuers and ADELTE is for the design, manufacture and installation of a second HYDRA PBB which will be identical but symmetrical to the unit which recently came into operation. Carlos Domingo, Vice President of Creuers, commented: “We place our trust in ADELTE to provide us with the same quality, safety and security in passenger boarding solutions as we are accustomed to since we started to mutually develop our first boarding bridge in 2001. Terminal A is now connected by an elevated walkway with Terminal B and with four moveable ADELTE passenger boarding bridges we will reach the highest operational standards required by the cruise lines to facilitate safe, secure and comfortable boarding of their cruise guests from ship to terminal and vice versa. This system of two cruise terminals connected with four PBBs will also allow us to manage cruise calls of next generation cruise vessels of the Genesis-class currently in construction and with a capacity of 6.000 cruise passengers’’.
The HYDRA boarding bridge has the capability to move along the whole quay and is able to connect with the various levels of the ship entry door. The cabin of the passenger boarding bridge is equipped with a uniquely integrated hydraulic, telescopic, docking ramp that, when attached to the side of a cruise ship automatically follows the vessel’s movements and will immediately undock in the event of an emergency. The clearance under the passenger boarding bridge will allow for continuous truck, equipment and supplies traffic on the quayside. ADELTE’s passenger boarding bridges are compliant with all up-to-date international safety and security standards.
After installation of this newly contracted HYDRA Passenger Boarding Bridge, ADELTE will have a total of 10 PBBs delivered and operational at the Port of Barcelona. ADELTE will then also have designed and delivered and a total of 18 PBBs of the HYDRA range (out of a current total of 44 PBBs) to cruise and ferry terminals all over the world.
