Presentation

Over the last decade the port of Savona Vado has achieved extraordinary results, thanks to the strong commitment of the whole port community. Between 1996 and 2007, in addition to significantly developing its overall handling operations, with an increase of nearly 3 million tons (+22%), the make-up of traffic changed, with strong growth in the greater added value sector, meaning general cargo, increasing by more than two million tons owing to the development of containerised traffic.

Another significant fact involves the development of the passenger sector (1996 - beginning of cruise activities; 1998 - the Vado Ligure ferry terminal goes into service; 2004 - the Palacrociere cruise terminal becomes fully operational), which brings to Savona more than a million tourists every year.

Today, based on these figures, the port is among the top ten in Italy in terms of global traffic volume: in particular, Savona-Vado is 4th in the cruise sector (1,075,000 pax) and 10th in the container sector (242,000 teu).

Combined public and private investments were utilised to develop complex activity programs while the new Master Plan, elaborated by the Port Authority, is designed to increase port traffic, also by improving the waterfront’s urban, tourism and environmental features.

In addition to the initiatives in the Savona area, such as concentrating merchant activities in the areas farthest from the city around the Deep-Water Basin, port development is being concentrated off the coast of Vado.

In particular, plans call for the construction of a container terminal platform with a capacity of about 600,000 teu per year. This area, with a depth of from 15 m to more than 20, is the ideal site to berth container carriers with a capacity of more than 10,000 teu, a unique feature in the North Tyrrhenian.

The project is implemented through a project financing procedure, started in 2005 with the publication of an international tender to seek a subject interested in designing, developing and managing the terminal. The tender was then completed in May 2007 and the winning subject is a consortium guided by A.P. Moeller Maersk. The works will start in 2008 and the new terminal will be fully operating in 2012.

To introduce Savona’s system into the competitive international scenario, the Port Authority has also defined a specific plan of action to create an effective railway link between the port and the hinterland (independently operatine the trains from the port by utilising 4 electric locomotives specifically purchased) and to integrate the port with the industrial areas between Liguria and Piedmont, where logistics, handling and distribution activities can also be carried out.