The President of Boluda Corporación Marítima, received in the City Hall the Medal of the City of Bruges from the hands of the Mayor Dirk De fauw and the Governor of the province of West Flanders Carl Decaluwé.
Vicente Boluda Fos, accompanied by his son Ignacio Boluda Ceballos, received from the hands of the Mayor of Bruges the Medal of the City. The reception took place in the City Hall, one of the oldest in Belgium and a beautiful example of Gothic style.
This award adds to the long list of international recognitions that the President of Boluda Towage holds, among which are the Knight’s Medal of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic, the title of Ambassador Plenipotentiary of Panama for Maritime Affair and Honorary Major of the Fourth Rescue Company of the Panamanian Fire Brigade.
During the event, the mayor and the governor were presented with scale models of the VB RUMBA and VB BOLERO tugboats, state-of-the-art, high-performance vessels operating in the Belgian port that comply with the latest Tier-III environmental emission standards.
The event highlighted the extensive experience of Boluda Towage, the world’s leading towage operator, which has been operating and ensuring the safety of navigation in the port of Antwerp-Bruges for more than sixty years, and which constitutes an added value and a boost for the economy of the West Flanders region.
The fruitful collaboration between the Belgian port, one of the largest and busiest in Europe, and Boluda Corporación Marítima’s towing division, is based on common objectives and ambitions. Boluda Towage, like the Antwerp-Brujas port authorities, is making a major effort and investment in new technologies to minimize emissions and achieve carbon neutrality targets by 2050.
Mayor Dirk De fauw said: “We are pleased to welcome Mr. Vicente Boluda Fos to the city of Bruges. Since 1960, Boluda Towage has been providing reliable towage services to shipping companies calling at the port of Antwerp-Bruges. The company has pioneered sustainable projects to make its strong fleet of tugboats more environmentally friendly. Boluda Towage’s bold sustainable initiatives fit perfectly with Zeebrugge’s clean port strategy, and the port’s long-term knowledge ensures smooth and safe navigation”.
Boluda Towage’s fleet of tugboats is a pioneer in Europe in the reduction of emissions. The company has developed its own projects to adapt its ships to the increasingly restrictive IMO Tier-III emission standards. Following the success of the adaptations, Boluda Towage is adding to its fleet more efficient newly built tugboats with high maneuverability and performance.
To further reduce its carbon footprint, Boluda Towage, in collaboration with Onboard, has implemented a fuel consumption module in its fleet. In addition, Boluda Towage is conducting a feasibility study on the conversion of a traditional tugboat into a hydrogen (H2) powered tugboat. A recent milestone is the cooperation between Boluda Towage and Damen Shipyards to start using Damen’s electric tugs in our European operations and to build together the first methanol-powered tug.
The President of Boluda Towage, Vicente Boluda Fos: “I would like to thank both Mayor De fauw and Governor Decaluwé for their hospitality and warm welcome, and for the opportunity to share our ambitions. As a world leader in maritime services, we are at the forefront of the maritime sector. We pursue a strategy of constant updating of our methodologies towards an innovative environment.”
“The most important goal for our towage sector is to achieve the EU’s “Fit for 55” agreement, whereby Europe aims to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050, reducing emissions, including greenhouse gases, by 55% by 2030. Our goal is and will remain to provide safe, efficient and sustainable towing services, and to be a reliable partner for all our business associates.
One of the core areas of Boluda’s maritime services is the provision of emergency response and maritime rescue services.
Carl Decaluwé, Governor of West Flanders and President of the Belgian Coast Guard: “The Antwerp-Bruges port is Flanders’ economic engine. Companies such as Boluda Towage demonstrate their commitment to making this drive sustainable and efficient. Furthermore, the structured use of the North Sea is an important factor for West Flanders, as it is located on a busy sea route and in an intensively exploited maritime area. The cooperation with the North Sea neighbors is an important element in this regard and Boluda Towage’s international contribution to this network is an added value.”
