The president of the Angra do Heroísmo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIAH), Marcos Couto, insists on the need to improve maritime links for goods to the island of Terceira and warns that business leaders have suffered considerable losses.
“It is unacceptable that in the 21st century, supermarket shelves on Terceira Island are empty, that companies on Terceira Island are unable to export and import products, and that companies on Terceira Island that depend on the domestic market are unable to get their products to other islands. It is unacceptable that we are suffering such clear losses,” he said yesterday at a press conference.
For several years, the business association of the islands of Terceira, São Jorge, and Graciosa has been warning about the difficulties entrepreneurs face in transporting goods by sea. Still, according to Marcos Couto, “in recent months, the situation has been worsening dramatically,” leading to “stock shortages of various products on the island.”
Terceira has direct weekly sea links with the mainland, but the unpredictability of arrival dates at the port of Praia da Vitória has caused constraints on imports and exports.
“We have had more than 20 changes to the scheduled stops in a month. The unpredictability is total,” Marcos Couto stressed.
Business leaders have alerted the Regional Government, which responds that it has met frequently with the Institute and the Mobility and Transport Authority to improve the situation, but the problems persist.
“For one reason or another, there is always a justification for the delays that occur, whether it is bad weather, the ship is in dry dock, or the ship has broken down. I understand all the justifications, but I cannot stand idly by when our members are being harmed in the way they have been over the last few years. This cannot go on any longer. A solution must be found,” he stressed.
One of the options raised by the CCIAH president to solve the problem is to launch an international public tender for the provision of the service.

“Define the terms, the obligations, how much it costs. Compensate those who have to provide the service and create predictability and frequency,” he proposed.
About three years ago, Terceira also lost its containerized cargo connections to the central group of islands, which has affected the domestic market, for example, in the sale of meat.
“We feel that Terceira Island has been the target of an unprecedented economic stranglehold in recent years, in which we no longer have containerized cargo connections to the other islands in the central group, with enormous penalties for the very specific meat sector, where the island no longer has access to meat from other islands,” said the president of the CCIAH.
Without revealing the figures, Marcos Couto said that the losses are considerable and that the numbers have been forwarded to the Ministry of Transportation.
According to business owners, the delay in ship arrivals can cause a reduction in the value of fresh products, and there are even reports of perishable products, such as yogurt, arriving at the end of their shelf life.
In the case of perishable products, the arrival of ships on Friday at the end of the day also forces companies to incur additional logistics costs, as they must pay overtime to employees on weekends.
“This way, it will never be possible for the Azores’ economy to grow, it will never be possible for the economy of Terceira Island and the central group to grow, because the losses have been very considerable,” Marcos Couto emphasized.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.