Assorimorchiatori and Confitarma reject the hypothesis to grant two concessions of service of towing in a single port



Referring to the express opinion 23rd October from the Guarantor Authority of the Competition and Market (AGCM) on an administrative action with which 17th July the Harbour office of Milazzo has rejected a demand for release of a second concession of service of towing in the port and the oadstead of Milazzo, introduced 4th May from the society Sicilian Tugs, Assorimorchiatori and Confitarma they manifest contrarietà to the hypothesis to grant two concessions of service of towing in a single port.

The opinion of the Authority Antitrust is that "the provision of turndown adopted from the Harbour office of Milazzo, founded exclusively on the circumstance that the current normative order on the technical-nautical services would not allow the acceptation of the request of the signaling society, is in contrast with the principles of competition freedom which it must be inspired the interpretation of the enforced norm that, in fact, does not exclude the possibility to adopt competitive modalities of management of the technical-nautical services in harbour within".

"Although the enforced discipline in matter of organization and discipline of the technical-nautical services inside of the ports puts again some to the Harbour Authorities the organization - it has found the AGCM - this does not mean that the confidences of the concessions must be carried out in exclusive right and, moreover, without a public contest (the Antitrust in fact has remembered that the concession of service of towing to the Capieci Spa, adherent society to Confitarma and Assorimorchiatori and takes part of the group Cafiero Mattioli, is renewed without contest until on February 20, 2024, ndr). In truth, the choice of the model of management of the services - it has explained the AGCM - must be the result of an adequate weighting between the protection of the competition and the collective requirement to public safety. This appraisal is not rinvenibile in the actions of the marine authorities that have lead to the opposite turndown to the society Tugs Siciliani Srl. Neither it seems possible to recover such contemperamento of interests in the opinions expressed from the Marine Authority of Catania and the ministry, recalled for relationem in the opposed provision of the Harbour office of Milazzo".

The Guarantor Authority of the Competition and the Market has still observed that "the necessity to hold in consideration the public interest to the protection of the competition in the choice of the model of management of the technical-nautical services many times over is invoked by the Authority in some recent signallings and previously demanded from the Court of Cassation. This last one has, in particular, observed that, in spite of the liberalization that the law n. 84 of 1994 have put into effect for the terrestrial operations (so-called "harbour services") completely are not extended also to the technical-nautical services, such circumstance "does not involve that a liberalization (analogous or less to that come true for the harbour operations) must be excluded for services nautical, but that it re-enters in the powers conferred to the administration, from the navigation code and the law n. 84 of 1994"".

Therefore - second the Authority Antitrust - the provision of the Harbour office of Milazzo and the actions presupposed with which the demand for release of the concession introduced from the Sicilian Tugs is rejected "integrates a violation of the principles to protection of the competition, sanctioned from article 14 and 106 of the Treaty on the Operation of the European Union let alone of the principles of liberalization of the contained harbour activities in the law n. 84 of 1994". The AGCM therefore has exhorted the Harbour office of Milazzo to communicate within sixty days to the Authority the adopted initiatives in order to remove such violation of the competition.

Assorimorchiatori and Confitarma contest the opinion of the Guarantor Authority of the Competition and the Market. "The hypothesis of the release of another concession in the same port - the two shipowning associations explain - does not appear a suitable choice to guarantee more favorable economic and operating conditions for the users of the service. Sul point is necessary in fact to remember - they specify - as the concessionary enterprise is held to put on of the port a defined number of having tugs suitable specification to satisfy is the requirements of harbour safety that those of efficiency of the service".

"From such premise - Assorimorchiatori and Confitarma emphasize - the obvious ascertainment derives that the presence of two concessionaires of the service in the same port of call would involve unavoidably a duplication of the organizational costs that in the specific field consist in huge million investments euro. To duplicate such costs, without some perspective of increment of the question of the service - they observe - is equivalent to condemn the port to pay rates very higher in order to compensate the greater organizational costs in such a way contributing to wind down of in measure consisting the level of competitiveness".

Assorimorchiatori and Confitarma specify but that such considerations "do not exclude however the opportunity to apply in the field mechanisms of competition for the market, through the indiction of a public contest time to characterize the economically more favorable offer. One remembers moreover - the two associations evidence - than on such Assorimorchiatori mechanisms and Confitarma has always declared the their full adhesion".

"If under investigation - Assorimorchiatori and Confitarma continue - not it can but to sottacere that the Harbour office of Milazzo is own to these mechanisms that has been done again in occasion of I renew of the concession in year 2009, when it made to publish on the "Gazette" and the "Gazette of the Sicilian Region" an warning with which it invited all the interested operators to be left over demanded of participation to the administrative procedure face to the release of the concession. The lacked presentation declarations of interest by other operators has induced the Harbour-office to entrust the concession to the concessionary precedence, the only one that had advanced formal demand in such sense. Moreover it cannot neither be sottacere - the two associations denounce - than the enterprise, than only recently it has advanced the demand for a second concession in the port of Milazzo in favor of which the Guarantor Authority is pronounced, it has declared to offer the service with completely inadequate means is under the technical profile is for their elevated obsolescence (three on four have quite forty years). This - Assorimorchiatori and Confitarma conclude - is particularly important if which is considered that such port is characterized by a almost exclusively oil traffic, for obviously demands the employment of technologically advance and efficient tugs on the plan of safety and in particular for the management of the emergencies".