GENOA. The theme of world trade, in a city like Genoa, could not ignore a reasoning about its port, the first quay in Italy, strategic not only for the economy of the Ligurian territory, but for the whole of the North West and in general economy of the country, with about three billion VAT revenues generated each year.
So what is the state of health of the port? Thanks to the general recovery, it is recovering, almost overtaking compared to the levels of 2019: from the beginning of the year to August, the containers handled (their unit of measurement is the teu, twenty feet equivalent unit, i.e. a 20-foot container) are were 1.9 million, (+ 18.8% on the same period last year). In six months the traffic of Genoa was 24.5 million tons of goods of which 16.7 in various goods: inside containers, transported by ferry on semi-trailers, or on specialized ships because they are loaded out of gauge. This is the specialization of Genoa, its wealth: consumer goods arriving from the Far East, Made in Italy heading towards the whole world. The airport has significant trades with over 60 destinations around the globe.
Everything good? Not exactly: the port has increasingly obvious internal connection problems. Behind it the disastrous motorway network, subjected to endless emergency interventions following the tragedy and the scandal of the Morandi Bridge. 90% of the goods entering and leaving the port perimeter travel on an old and shabby infrastructure, 4,000 trucks a day from the historic basin alone, the one under the Lanterna: it is the main connection with the hinterland, which is not so much Liguria , as much as the Po Valley, the system of large and small exporting companies in the North West. Indeed, according to the studies of the Port System Authority, the catchment area of Genoa (and Savona) is roughly in a semicircle that goes from the province of Cuneo to the North East of Italy, and then falls back on Emilia, but remaining under the Alps. This is because in the routes to the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, which connect the Mediterranean to the rest of the world, Genoa, compared to the Adriatic ports, saves several days of travel, larger ships arrive there, and ‘is a greater offer of maritime services.
The problem is that the port – like all Italian ports – has reached a growth limit. To better serve the Po Valley, and reach the markets beyond the Alps (which also happened until the 1960s), in particular Switzerland and above all rich Bavaria, there is a need for the railway: both for the restrictions imposed by the government Swiss on heavy vehicles, and above all because over a certain amount, on average 300 kilometers, it becomes cheaper to transport goods by train rather than by truck. For this reason, Genoa is already regularly served, for example by the interports of Padua, Pordenone and various structures between Reggio and Modena. But there is only one direct international connection, with Basel.
And this is essentially the function that the Third Pass will have, the almost seven billion euro maxi-tunnel through the Apennines that will serve to unload the motorway network and above all to facilitate the long-range connections of the port. However, this work will not be ready before 2024, and already delayed by about a decade compared to the airport’s growth programs.
Without forgetting the new breakwater, intended to replace the current one to create an 800-meter-wide stretch of water in front of the port, to accommodate the largest ships in the world, which can individually carry up to 24,000 TEU: for this there are the funds. of the government, plus other resources of the port authority and the Liguria Region. They are 600 million euros for the first lot (the whole work costs 1.3 billion), but the time available is short: if the first part is not ready in 2026, goodbye financing. This is why construction sites must start early next year, a new challenge for the city that has rebuilt its bridge in record time. The goal is to double the traffic volumes: and to determine the importance of a port, it is the volume of traffic, which generates business and work (shipowners, shipping agents, brokers, freight forwarders, insurance experts, specialized law firms, etc.) . The port of Genoa (and with it Savona-Vado Ligure) would pass from a dignified reality, but substantially stagnant due to the reached limits of capacity, to a great pole of international shipping.