Hutchison Ports celebrated the arrival of two new cranes at its semi-automated terminal, BEST, at the Port of Barcelona this Thursday. Their addition marks the completion of the first phase of a series of projects that has cost €130 million. BEST, however, is not stopping there: the company has announced it will invest a further €140 million over the next two years. The two new cranes arrived at the Barcelona port last June and have been in operation ever since, joining the 13 cranes already on the quay. All are semi-automated and form part of BEST's project to make container pickup and storage in the city faster and more efficient. "In a changing world, it's no longer just about greater productivity — other factors like scale and effectiveness matter too," said Guillermo Belcastro, CEO of BEST, at the presentation marking the cranes' launch.
The event brought together more than half a dozen authorities and company representatives, who toured the cranes — two massive structures completing part of BEST's project at the Port of Barcelona — during the morning. Attendees included Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility Óscar Puente; Minister of Business and Labour Miquel Sàmper; Secretary-General for Air and Maritime Transport Benito Núñez; the mayor of El Prat de Llobregat, Alba Bou; Barcelona City Council's fourth deputy mayor for the Economy, Finance, Economic Promotion and Tourism area, Jordi Valls; the Director-General for Transport and Sustainable Mobility of the Government of Navarre, Berta Miranda; the Managing Director of Hutchison Port Holdings Europe, Clemence Cheng; and the president of the Port of Barcelona, José Alberto Carbonell.
From the terminal's inception through to the launch of these new cranes, total investment has reached €130 million. But the project doesn't end here: there are plans to add three more cranes by 2028 and six more storage blocks by the end of 2027. Once the full project is complete, a further €140 million will be added to the initial investment. Substantial as that sounds, BEST maintains it could generate around €2.1 billion in added value. The new cranes, manufactured in China, are known as Ship-to-Shore cranes, built to handle vessels carrying up to 26 rows of containers and standing 55 meters tall. They are, in fact, the largest gooseneck-design cranes in the world — a crane type that boosts the efficiency, productivity and flexibility of loading and unloading operations. According to Minister Óscar Puente, "each crane cost €12 million."
Today's international trade demands machinery that is bigger, more efficient and more sustainable across the board. Container ships keep growing in size, requiring fast, functional cranes and storage space to unload smoothly. BEST chose Barcelona for its status as one of Spain's international trade hubs, but also for its capacity and appetite for innovation. Under the slogan "Much More Than Two," these two cranes cap off one of the first phases of a project set to boost customer growth and the speed of sustainable container loading and unloading by 2028, at a total cost of €270 million.
Public-private partnership projects
The Port of Barcelona is one of the Catalan capital's key logistics hubs, with an increasing number of companies committing to innovation there. Public investment, however, also plays a key role. In his closing remarks before the event wrapped up, Puente said that close to €1.7 billion has been invested in projects at the Port of Barcelona. He noted that ports are a top priority and that their efficiency is essential to a more modern, sustainable world, welcoming the fact that companies like BEST are rolling out such groundbreaking projects. At the same time, he pointed out that maritime operations need to be matched by inland operations, and confirmed that rail projects are already underway for ports such as Valencia to improve connectivity.
As for the contribution to the city and to Catalonia, BEST's modern terminal will boost efficiency in imports and exports— an area in which the country already excels. As the Minister of Business and Labour put it at the event: "In Catalonia we've surpassed €1 billion in exports," adding that these steadily growing figures "would be hard to understand without the contribution of the Port of Barcelona."
BEST, a benchmark terminal
With more than thirty weekly port calls connecting the terminal to the world's major ports, BEST offers efficient, reliable and sustainable solutions for shipping lines, shippers and logistics operators. Its clear innovation-driven vision has led to sustained investment aimed at improving international maritime trade. "Year after year, it consolidates Barcelona as a logistics hub," Carbonell noted, adding that Hutchison Ports — largely through the BEST terminal —handles nearly 40% of all container-related activity at the Port of Barcelona.
The arrival of these two cranes brings BEST's crane fleet at the Port of Barcelona's Super Post-Panamax quay up to 15. They join 68 automated cranes and around forty Shuttle Carriers (giant vehicles that move containers around modern ports), which together operate along some 1,500 meters of berthing line with a draft of 16.5 meters. Ultimately, the launch of these two new cranes positions BEST as one of the strongest strategic partners for logistics operators and shipping lines, while also allowing the Port of Barcelona to shine once again through its clear commitment to investment in innovation and efficiency —bringing it, in Carbonell's words, ever closer to "cementing Barcelona's role as the great gateway in and out of Southern Europe."