Sustainable marine tourism

Young Ana Belén 5th CT-5-3-92 NIB 10905

The project ‘Sustainable Marine Tourism’, carried out by Cruises Mar Menor SL with an investment of €78,087.35 and a grant of €32,267.5, is part of the Participatory Local Development Strategy of the ‘Local Fisheries and Aquaculture Action Group of the Region of Murcia (Galpemur)’ and is co-financed by European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (FEMPA) 70% and for the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia (CARM) at 30%.

After the request for help to the Galpemur 2024 call for the Sustainable Marine Tourism project, whose objective was to modernize the ship ‘Young Ana Belen’ Carrying out all the actions indicated in the budgets, the objective was to give continuity to the history of the ship, maintaining its essence and adapting it to current times through new measures of security, accessibility, comfort, services and leisure activities, being respectful with the environment and taking care of the sea minor.

The project was completed in 2024, achieving its objectives, since the boat now has all the modernizations and rehabilitations carried out. Much of the electrical system was modernized, and the carpentry improved accessibility to the boat, while comfort was improved by installing tables and a bar between the benches and the rehabilitation of the storage compartments to avoid tripping on the deck. The bathing area was also modernized, with the installation of a bathing platform at the stern, on both sides of the stairs, for easy and safe boarding and disembarkation.

In addition, in terms of modernizing living conditions, improvements have been made to the toilet and bar on board, including the installation of a sink and a sink. An awning has also been installed on the top deck and access to the bridge has been modernized from that deck. In addition, an enclosure has been added on the main deck for the winter season, all with the aim of improving the quality of our service and meeting the shared objective of regional tourism in the Region of Murcia to reduce the seasonality of tourism.

The modernization of safety on board has included the installation of a Class A Automatic Identification System (AIS), which allows the ship to be located at all times by satellite by maritime rescue, as well as by all other ships and boats equipped with the same system. The fire protection system has also been modernized, improving the location and accessibility of the fire pump in an emergency. The last security improvement was the installation of new windows of PMMA compliant with the standard ISO 7823-1:2003, UV resistant.

As for the aesthetics of the ship, we have modernized its image by carrying out a laborious work of painting throughout the boat, in addition to having manufactured and installed a figure of a seahorse, image of the company, as a figurehead.

All these modernizations and rehabilitations have been supervised and carried out from an engineering study requested by the Cartagena Maritime Authority.