Presentation
The Port of Genoa continues to reap the benefits of the farreaching restructuring programme started by the Port Authority in the mid 1990s which resulted in Genoa becoming the first fully privatised port in Italy. The terminal operators, some of whom rank high in the international shipping industry, know their market well and they have invested in Genoa as a port with a future. Genoa is a multi-service port which boasts 29 specialised terminals equipped to accommodate all classes of ships and cater for all key commodity sectors: containers, general cargo, perishable goods, steel forest products, solid bulk, liquid bulk, petroleum products and cruise and ferry passengers. In addition, the port guarantees a full range of vital complementary services, from ship maintenance and repair to customised telecommunications and data processing. Over 150 regular liner services connect Genoa to reading ports worldwide.Positive growth across the board has characterised the Port of Genoa in recent years. Today Genoa ranks as the premier port in Italy in terms of total throughput (approximately 57 million tons), and amongst the top Mediterranean container ports for final destination. Moreover, this upward trend is expected to continue. Genoa has the strategic advantage. Its proximity to Italy's major industrial and consumer centres in the north (both Milan and Turin are just 150 km away), as well as to the primary manufacturing centres of Central Europe, such as Bale (Switzerland), Munich (Germany) and Vienna (Austria), make the port an ideal southern gateway for trade to and from Europe, and the natural hub for Far East trade. Any vessel operator using the Suez Canal and load centring in Genoa saves almost a week’s sailing compared to load centring in Northern Europe. Both the Port Authority and the private port management companies are fully committed to implementing sizeable investment programmes to upgrade port facilities and to boost trade further. In the short term, major reclamation and restructuring works foreseen in the Port Masterplan will soon be underway providing additional operational areas with improved port access to ease traffic flow.
However, the changes are not aimed solely at increasing the volume of conventional terminal operations, but also at expanding the specialised handling and storage facilities where the port’s value-added services are being generated.
In addition, the Port Authority of Genoa, in conjunction with the Local Government Authorities, has given the goahead to an ambitious seaport and airport redevelopment plan drafted by one of the world’s leading architects, Renzo Piano, to cater for the future vessel upsizing and the enormous surge in trade flows through the Mediterranean. The focal point of the plan is the relocation of the international airport to a new artificial island and the conversion of its existing space into a cargo facility capable of handling the largest projected containerships. The plan will transform the entire 20 kilometre coastline as it aims to streamline the existing layout of the port and double the operating surface area from 200 to 400 hectares.
