The president of the Balearics, Marga Prohens, has presented the new surveillance, inspection and control service for the Balearic coastline run by Puertos de Baleares (Ports IB) in the Port of Andratx, coinciding with the arrival of the first two boats and the start of a one-month pilot scheme involving a drone. Ports IB plans to launch a fleet of 22 boats, divided into two action groups, one of which will focus on coastal waters and the other on ports, the regional government said in a statement.
There will be ten vessels dedicated to surveillance, inspection and control in coastal waters, which will focus their efforts particularly on monitoring the nautical and recreational sector, and will operate according to the needs of each area to ensure efficient coverage. Initially, they will be assigned to the ports of Andratx, Soller, Pollensa, Cala Rajada, Porto Cristo and Colònia de Sant Jordi (in Mallorca); Ciutadella and Mahón (in Menorca), and Sant Antoni de Portmany and Ibiza (in the Pitiusas). However, they may operate from any other point, depending on the needs of the service.
Two vessels from this group have already arrived in Mallorca, one of which will soon be deployed to Menorca, while the third vessel, scheduled to arrive next week, will be assigned to Ibiza. Each unit will be operated by a skipper from the public company Tragsatec and a qualified inspector, with the authority to issue reports in accordance with maritime public domain control functions.
The service is completed by twelve additional vessels assigned to the ports directly managed by Ports IB, which will provide support for internal operations. Last Friday, the Balearic cabinet approved the creation of 15 new positions for Ports IB, including eight surveillance inspectors (four for Mallorca, two for Menorca and two for Ibiza and Formentera), as well as a head of service, who will coordinate all operations from the new control centre.
This control centre, which will become operational shortly, will be the operational coordination hub for the entire system and will centralise services such as mooring reservation management, buoy field supervision and coastal cleaning services. It will be active every day of the week, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and will have open communication channels to respond to queries and incidents from the public and other administrations. The system also includes a pilot test with a drone, which will operate ten hours a day for a month to support coastal surveillance, nautical charter control, beach monitoring and buoy field supervision.