The 2nd edition of the Maritime Signals course gets underway

This is a blended learning course provided by Fundación Valenciaport and promoted and endorsed by Puertos del Estado and the Port Authority of Valencia
The inaugural session was attended by the president of Puertos del Estado, Álvaro Rodríguez and the general director of Fundación Valenciaport, Antonio Torregrosa

Valencia, February 5th, 2025. – The 2nd edition of the course “Aids to Maritime Navigation”, blended training provided by Fundación Valenciaport and promoted and supported by Puertos del Estado and the Port Authority of Valencia, kicked off this week in Madrid.

The inaugural session, held yesterday, Tuesday, was attended by the president of Puertos del Estado, Álvaro Rodríguez; the general director of Fundación Valenciaport, Antonio Torregrosa; the director of exploitation of Puertos del Estado, Pedro García; the deputy director of aids to navigation in Puertos del Estado and representative of Spain on the board of IALA, Javier Martín; the director of Training of Fundación Valenciaport, Ana Rumbeu; and the secretary of the Engineering and Digital Commissions of the international association IALA, Jaime Álvarez, who gave a keynote speech on Monday.

The course is attended by 15 students, all of them workers of the aids to navigation service of different Spanish port authorities (Vigo, Barcelona, Cartagena, Valencia, Tenerife, Las Palmas, Marín, Avilés, Alicante, Gijón) and Puertos del Estado.

The purpose of the maritime signaling service managed by the port authorities is the installation, maintenance, control and inspection of visual, acoustic, electronic or radioelectric devices, active or passive, aimed at improving the safety of navigation and the movements of ships in the Spanish coastal sea and, where appropriate, confirming the position of ships in navigation. The provision of this service corresponds to each port authority in the geographical area assigned for this purpose.

Puertos del Estado is the body responsible for the planning, coordination and control of the Spanish maritime signaling system, and the promotion of training, research and technological development in these matters.

In this sense, Puertos del Estado, in coordination with the Port Authority of Valencia and Fundación Valenciaport, has developed this course in order to enhance the knowledge and qualification of personnel assigned to the maritime signaling service of the Port Authorities.

Another objective of this course is the accreditation of students in certain modules recognized internationally by the IALA World Academy.

It is foreseen that during the course the students will travel to Valencia to attend two weeks of classroom training to be held in March and May at the facilities of the old Lighthouse of the Port of Valencia, recently remodeled by APV.

This training is the first of a series of activities aimed at making the Port of Valencia a laboratory of innovation in aids to navigation.