The much anticipated Gala Dinner was held in the beautiful vaulted Sala Marques De Comillas at the Barcelona Maritime Museum.
Around 140 guests dined whilst chatting with friends and continuing discussions started earlier in the day. Santiago Garcia-Milà, Deputy General Manager of the Port of Barcelona and Chairman of ESPO, welcomed delegates to the Gala Dinner, which was hosted by the Port of Barcelona. Mr Garcia- Milà, was delighted to congratulate the ports of Calais, Cork and Moerdijk for achieving the Port Environmental Review System (PERS) certification and presented the PERS certificates to the port representatives, Mr Laurent Devulder (Calais), Mr Finbarr Kearney (Cork) and Mr Jacco Rentrop (Moerdijk) respectively.
The ports of Cork and Moerdijk achieved PERS certification for the fourth consecutive time since their initial certifications in 2006. Calais received its certificate for the third time in a row since its initial commitment to PERS in 2010.
To round off an excellent evening, guests were treated to a lively story from Dr Chris Wooldridge about his recent escapades on a Greek island that involved rescuing a goat, for which he was presented with an ancient goats’ bell by the grateful goat herder, and which also included a very topical reference to the ESPO Green Guide!
