The origin of the Port of Aveiro is linked to the history of the Ria and the work of fixing and opening the Barra de Aveiro (Aveiro Bar). Aveiro has witnessed successive political, economic and technical interventions since the mid-eightenth century in favour of opening up the connection between the Sea and the Ria de Aveiro (Aveiro Lagoon). History affirms that since 1757, there have been numerous technical studies to determine its location.
However, it would be the responsibility of Engineers Reinaldo Oudinot and Luís Gomes de Carvalho to design the first major study to re-establish the connection between the Ria de Aveiro and the sea, which culminated in the opening of the bar on 3rd April 1808, and its establishment in the place where it has remained to this day, in what was the first milestone for the development of this port. Since then, Aveiro has created its identity, nationally unique, which has thrived with the opening of the port to international trade, with a fishing sector (coastal and distant) which is one of the most important at a national level, attracting industries and restoring growth and wealth to the region.
After the establishment of the bar, until the mid-twentieth century, jetties were expanded and dikes were built. Engineer Von Hafe is the author of what can be considered one of the first plans for the Port of Aveiro: the projection of a fishing port and a commercial port next to the S. Roque Channel, in the city of Aveiro. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Junta Autónoma da Ria e Barra de Aveiro - JARBA (Autonomous Board of the Ria and Barra of Aveiro) is created and the engineer Coutinho de Lima directs the “General Outline of the Interior Port of Aveiro”, as well as the plans for the layout and operation of the Plaza Fishing ports (cod fishing port) , the Coastal Fishing Port and the Commercial Port.
In 1974, the “Master Plan for the Development and Enhancement of the Port and Ria de Aveiro”, already with JARBA having been transformed into Junta Autónoma do Porto de Aveiro - JAPA (Autonomous Board of the Port of Aveiro), works towards the move of the port terminals to the area near the entrance to Barra, where today the most important commercial structure of the port is located.
3rd November 1998, the publication date of Law-Decree No 339/98, constitutes a new milestone in the history of the Port, with the conversion of JAPA into APA - Administração do Porto de Aveiro, SA (Administration of the Port of Aveiro), resulting in the recognition of its status as a national port. With the new competences attributed to it in the development of the port and with greater autonomy, the Administration of the Port of Aveiro revised the “Planning and Expansion Plan of the Port of Aveiro”, which included the rail connection of the Port of Aveiro and the North and the completion and improvement of its infrastructure.
In 2005, with its area of jurisdiction reduced to only the area of interest to the port (Law-Decree No 40/2002 of 28th February), the Administration prepared and approved the “Strategic Plan for the Port of Aveiro”.
The Programme of the XVII Constitutional Government calls for the institutional restructuring of the maritime-port sector, in order to optimise the existing infrastructure and promote the competitiveness of national ports. Promoting the realisation of the aforementioned Programme, the strategic guidelines for the maritime-port sector approved by the Government, determine the transformation of secondary ports into corporate units, with autonomous management, in articulation with the main ports, thus creating the conditions necessary to boost a greater competitiveness of ports.
In this context, through Law-Decree No 210/2008 of 3rd November, APFF - Administração do Porto da Figueira da Foz, SA (APFF, SA), a public limited liability company owned entirely by APA - Administração do Porto de Aveiro, SA was established.
From the new organic solution implemented, added value comes from the fact that the port of Figueira da Foz now has an administration guided by business management criteria, with greater autonomy, proximity and affinity in terms of nature, mission and objectives.
Likewise, conditions have been created for the rational use of resources, exploitation of synergies and savings of complementarity and even expansion, which early on were enhanced by the fact that, under the terms of Article 10, paragraph 1 of the APFF, SA Statutes , approved in annex to Law-Decree No 210/2008 of 3rd November, the members of the Board of Directors of the Port of Figueira da Foz are the administrators in the role of the function at APA, SA.
Today, APA is a company committed to fulfilling its mission in society and guaranteeing the sustainable future of the port.
It is in this context, that the Port of Aveiro has adopted the mission to provide competitive access of goods to regional, national and international markets, thus promoting the economic development of its region.
