Crossing the strait? These are the passenger services you will find in Algeciras

Port of Algeciras Bay is the gateway between Southern Europe and North Africa. It receives more than five and a half million passengers and more than one million vehicles annually. Passenger services of this maritime station are a fundamental part of the smooth management of the port, especially every summer, during the Crossing of the Strait Operation (Operación Paso del Estrecho OPE). These include:

• Service for managing access of passengers and vehicles to restricted boarding areas: the main purpose of this service is to control passengers entering restricted boarding areas. Luís Fillol, head of the Portel office in Algeciras, explains that both passengers and vehicles are verified to have the correct boarding passes. They are read using a universal code that appears on the card. It captures all data of passengers and vehicles.
• Ticket verification service: all vehicles that enter the pre-boarding area are controlled using this system. Luis Fillol also mentions that the vehicles arrive at the ticket checkpoint and are given access to the pre-boarding areas. If passengers are out of tickets, they are told where they can avail of tickets inside the port.
• Passenger information service: It informs all users about departures, cancellations, etc. All screens throughout the 12,000m2 of maritime station show the same information coming from the information centre. Furthermore, the information centre also provides ground assistance such as buses, trains, etc. It is also a place where a complaint can be processed. Lluís Fillol says it is where all information from the maritime station is centrally processed.

Port Authority of Algeciras Bay has published several Calls to tender these services. Portel gained management services for Access of Passengers in 2012, thanks to its strong technological profile. Ticketing Control was then awarded in 2014, and Information Service in 2017. Transversality, which is offered by the entire management all passenger services, speeds up all processes and keeps all systems up and running at all times.

Indeed, these services offered to passengers never wind down. According to Fillol, workers are organised in shifts, working rigorously with shipping companies and the Port Authority so as to ensure that access to boarding areas can be provided 24 hours a day.

There is a time in the year that is highly critical for the Port of Algeciras Bay. During the summer months, more than 1 million people and 250,000 vehicles cross the strait for their summer holidays. In the past, passengers could even wait days just to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. Thanks to Portel OPI, this incredible influx is now managed normally. In order to speed up OPI, Port of Algeciras offers fourth service for the exclusive passage in this period of the year. Fillol says that by means of several teams of workers, vehicles are parked within the area of entrance to the boats. In this manner, the distribution of the cars for boarding is improved. It optimizes time and beefs up overall experience.