1.7 Quality of service

Information mechanisms provided by the Port Authority guaranteeing transparency in the knowledge of the conditions for operators wishing to provide services in the Port or to apply for a concession (I_18)

Operators interested in setting up business in the service area of the Port of Huelva are informed through the technical services, which, in detail, communicate each and every one of the conditions required by the applicable regulations. Likewise, the website of the Port Authority of Huelva provides adequate information on the technical characteristics of the Port and its port facilities, rates and tariffs, etc., facilitating its knowledge and that of its activity.

In the case of occupation of the public domain (concession/administrative authorisation), the conditions are set out in a set of conditions regulating each administrative title that follows the structure and conditions established in Order FOM 938/2008, of 27 March, which approves the general conditions for the granting of concessions in the state port public domain. Likewise, said Specific Terms and Conditions are currently in accordance with the provisions of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2011, of 5 September, which approves the Consolidated Text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Navy.

The website of the Port Authority of Huelva provides adequate information on the technical characteristics of the Port and its port facilities, rates and tariffs, etc.

In relation to the provision of services, the aforementioned Law regulates the different types of services to be provided in the Port Authorities, specifying the procedure to be followed for the granting of the corresponding licence, as well as the content of the corresponding service regulatory specifications. The mechanisms used by the Huelva Port Authority to authorise the provision of the corresponding service, or the occupations in the port public domain that these services require, through the current applicable legislation mentioned above, fully guarantee transparency for the adequate knowledge of the conditions necessary to operate in the Port.

Port Authority initiatives to improve the efficiency and quality of the service (I_19)

The Board of Directors of the Port Authority of Huelva, at its meeting held on 19 December 2024, given the favourable report in this regard by the Port Services Committee of the Port of Huelva, at its meeting held on 3 December 2024, agreed to maintain for the following financial year the amounts of the tariffs currently in force for both the Port Service for the collection of oily waste from the bilges of ships (Annex I-C of Marpol) and for the Port Service for the collection of solid waste from ships in the Port of Huelva, and in any case until the new Specific Specifications for the port service for the reception of waste generated by ships are approved, where the tariffs corresponding to these services would be included.

Companies benefiting from bonuses to encourage improvements in the quality of service (I_20)

Concerning quality bonuses

In relation to the benchmarks that serve as a basis for the application of the bonuses provided for in article 245 of RD 2/2011, point 2, section b); in 2024 verification audits were carried out on the companies Atlantic Copper, DECAL España, ALGEPOSA, CEPSA, Enagás, IMPALA TERMINALS and BERGÉ Marítima S.L., obtaining a satisfactory result and resolving that the system is implemented in a mature and effective state. The total amount subsidised for this concept during the year 2024 amounted to €651,870.88.

With regard to the bonuses under Article 245, point 2, paragraph a), the shipping companies BALEARIA and ARMAS have been granted a total amount of €6,498.92 for their vessels

APH staff are always present at the verification audits of the Puertos de Estado Quality Standards.

With regard to best environmental practices

In 2024, five agreements on good environmental practices were in force, specifically with the companies Atlantic Copper, Decal España, CEPSA, Enagás and IMPALA TERMINALS. These bonuses are granted in accordance with the provisions of article 245.1 b) of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2011, of 5 September, approving the Consolidated Text of the Law on Ports and the Merchant Navy, which establishes that when the holder of a licence to provide the port goods handling service or the holder of the concession or authorisation of a goods handling terminal fulfils the requirements mentioned in said article, a 15% rebate will be applied to the activity fee in general and 20% to that corresponding to traffic handling solid or liquid bulk goods.

An essential requirement of these agreements is the performance of a specific audit by an accredited entity to verify the company’s compliance with environmental requirements and the degree of environmental performance required for the establishment or renewal of such agreements. For this purpose, in addition to the aforementioned entity, technical personnel from the Port Authority of Huelva are present at the same in order to carry out adequate monitoring

Likewise, the good practice agreements require operators to effectively invest a significant fraction of the amount of the subsidies received in the environmental improvement of their activity. This amount is always equal to or greater than 40% of the subsidy received in the year.

Initiatives to receive or handle complaints or suggestions (I_21)

Complaints and suggestions are received through the General Register in person or through the Electronic Headquarters and are channelled to the Planning, Internal Control and Management Systems Department, which filters, analyses and internally refers the communication to the area of activity that may be related to it. The Department of Planning, Internal Control and Management Systems monitors complaints and suggestions and communicates these to the persons concerned.

During 2024, 27 complaints, 4 Requests for Information and 5 suggestions were received through the General Register.

Of the 27 complaints received, 3 did not fall within the competence of the Port Authority of Huelva, 20 related to infrastructures or elements requiring corrective maintenance, 3 to signalling and the last to other types of services provided by the Port Authority.

Of the 5 suggestions, none have led to improvement actions by the APH related to improving services, facilities and street furniture in the service area.

The Port Authority of Huelva also requires and annually reviews the register of complaints and suggestions of the operators subsidised by the Quality Standard in the audits of compliance with the standard, attended, among other reasons, to monitor the subsidised terminals and the services they provide. No significant complaints or suggestions were received in 2024.

The satisfaction survey on services is carried out every two years, covering all the stakeholders involved, and one is due to be carried out in 2024. Ship captains, consignees, service providers and ship owners and shipping companies are the segments which best value the Port of Huelva, according to the Study on the Service Quality Perception Index of the Port of Huelva 2024, based on the opinions of the port’s customers and users. They gave an average score of 8.33 for overall satisfaction with port management, an improvement on the 7.97 obtained in the previous survey carried out in 2022.

The highest score was given by the ship captains with 8.75 points, followed by the shipping agents, service providers, ship-owners and shipping companies who rated general satisfaction with the Port of Huelva with 8.52 points.

The general satisfaction with the Port of Huelva of the different segments consulted in 2024 and the comparison with the data obtained is given in the following table:

The graph below shows the Map of satisfaction attributes obtained in the Quality Perception Study carried out during the year 2024.

The attributes most highly valued by customers and users of the Port of Huelva, in order to obtain such a high overall rating, were:

• The friendliness and treatment of the APH staff (8.79)
• Safety of operations and equipment (8.42)
• APH care of the environmental (8.39)
• APH accessibility to file complaints (8.35)