The project “Expansion and Requalification of the Naval Shipyard, including Swimming Parking Modernization of the Facilities of Quinta do Progresso”, in the riverside area of Faro, is in the public consultation phase of its Environmental Impact Assessment until October 15th.
The Quinta do Progresso shipyard, located on the banks of the Ria Formosa, between the railway line and the Parque Ribeirinho, is based on support services for recreational boating, with a special focus on sailing.
The current yard covers an area of approximately 6,6 hectares (ha), with only medium and long-term dry parking services, which occupy approximately 2,3 ha, translating into 170 to 190 spaces.
The project for its expansion and requalification aims to create a swimming pool with 25.101 square meters (25,1 ha), which will allow a total of 300 to 320 spaces, increasing the existing capacity at the shipyard.
At the same time, it aims to requalify the existing buildings and, in this way, improve and diversify nautical support services.
The project is the responsibility of the company Nave Pegos Lda, which has developed its activity supporting recreational boating in recent decades, with a special focus on recreational sailing.
According to the promoters, the company “has gained a vast international clientele over the years”, who use the facilities “for medium or long-term dry docking, using the berthing infrastructure and technical capacity installed to keep the vessels in good seaworthy conditions”.
However, the installed capacity to hoist and moor vessels “is currently exhausted”.
With two cranes for this purpose, and a lifting pit, the promoters claim that “it is not possible to increase the vessel handling capacity”.
Raising/harnessing operations are limited to, under optimal conditions, 6 to 8 daily maneuvers.
Now, the company argues, “this supply is lower than demand, and there is a need to expand services in order to ensure competitiveness against competitors, especially Spanish ones”.
“The creation of a swimming parking area naturally appears as the most appropriate and safest solution, allowing for an 80% increase in parking capacity, which will be done in a more organized and programmed way, allowing for better management of the boat maintenance area”, he adds.
The swimming parking, that is, this new water plan that is intended to be created, will allow, on the one hand, "to increase the effective capacity of the shipyard and, on the other hand, cumulatively, to address the lack of swimming moorings for masted recreational vessels, in Faro».
The ultimate goal will always be to “increase operational results, optimizing the heavy investment in dredging the access channel” (around 1,2 million euros) and complementing it with an even larger planned investment.
Nave Pegos adds that «the strategic interest of the project goes beyond the company's economic interests and is presented as a project of regional interest», especially because «the city of Faro does not currently have the capacity to safely park recreational vessels with masts in the water».
The improvement of its capacity and working conditions is “a clear and indisputable factor in increasing regional competitiveness in the recreational boating cluster, compared to its direct competitor: Andalusia (Spain)”.
The Chamber of Faro has already issued a Declaration of Municipal Public Interest for the expansion and requalification of the Quinta do Progresso Naval Shipyard.
The promoters also consider that it is necessary to “improve the services provided to sailors, on land, in the areas of training, in the areas of support to maritime authorities (recovery of salvage, bottom corrections and boat parking and maintenance services), in specialized services in the area of nautical repair and construction, in support services for a more comfortable and attractive stay”.
In this context, there is a need to “reformulate the uses of existing buildings, following renovation works, with protection of the existing architectural layout”.
“These interventions will allow us to offer a range of essential services to sailors, whether for those who are parked for varying periods of time, for vessels or for those seeking training services. These interventions will also enhance the scenic value of built spaces,” they add.
The process can be consulted at Participate Portal, clicking herei.
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