NYK secures 27-year concession for new car terminal at Port of Barcelona

The Port of Barcelona’s Management Board awarded Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) the concession for a new car terminal for a period of 27 years.

Japan-based NYK, which is one of the largest shipping companies in the world and has the second-largest fleet of car carrier ships, will invest a total of €75 million (US$85 million) to build the new public terminal, which will be located on Príncep d’Espanya wharf.

Port of Barcelona said the call for tenders to award this third vehicle traffic terminal responds to the growing traffic in new cars, especially electric vehicles, coming largely from the Far East and destined for various markets in Europe.

The bid by NYK responds to this need, with forecast traffic of close to 180,000 vehicles per year from 2028, most of which will be imported.

The new terminal will occupy more than 101,000 m² and is anticipated to come on stream in early 2027.

Most of the investment effort, which is the largest by any Japanese company in a Spanish port, will go towards building a new automatic silo with capacity for 8,160 vehicles. The terminal will be operated using 100% electric vehicles and handling equipment and the automatic silo will be topped by a photovoltaic installation with an annual generation capacity of 3,211 MWh.

Following the Port of Barcelona’s strategy, NYK’s bid also includes a significant commitment to intermodality. The new terminal will be located next to the railway terminal on Príncep d’Espanya wharf, which can currently operate 750-metre trains in all three gauges (UIC, Iberian and metric), and it is scheduled to be further expanded with a fourth track, which will allow NYK to move up to 10 trains per week.

With NYK owning 50% of the Norwegian shipping company United European Car Carriers (UECC), which specialises in connections for vehicle logistics in Europe, the Port of Barcelona aims to position itself as the Mediterranean hub for distributing vehicles not only to the rest of the European Union, but throughout the Mediterranean, including North Africa and Turkey.

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