the Antitrust reopens the preliminary investigation regarding the private companies that operate marine services from and for the partenopee islands



The Guarantor Authority of the Competition and Market (AGCM) has announced the decision to reopen the preliminary investigation for restrictive understanding of the competition regarding the private companies of navigation that operate in the Gulfs of Naples and Salerno, that is the Free societies of the group Lauro (Alilauro, Alicost, Alilauro Gruson and Marine Servizi Giuffré & Lauro), of the group Of Abundo-Raise (Medmar Ships), of the Aponte group (Free Navigation of the Gulf) and the SNAV (that integrally it is controlled by the holding Marinvest, than in its turn are under responsibility of the Aponte group).

The preliminary investigation was closed with provision on October 15, 2009 as a result of the acceptance of the engagements assumed from the shipowning societies that, also sharing the disputes which moved in theirs do not confront from the Authority Antitrust, they had been engaged among other things to limit the capacity of the activities that are carried out in the within of the common initiatives to the single aims of the improvement of the quality of the services and to melt the Consortium Marine Lines Partenopee (CLMP) constituted by Free Navigation of the Gulf, SNAV, Free Alilauro, Alilauro Gruson, Alicost and Marine Servizi Giuffré & Lauro; moreover they had been engaged to manage and to adopt "Regulations of the Only Ticket" for disciplining the conditions of I use of the transport title, to manage to adopt a "including Paper of the services" the general objectives persecuted in the performance of the service of transport from each company and they had been engaged to adopt measures in favor of the consumers.

Yesterday communicating the restart of the preliminary investigation, that it will have to be concluded within on May 30, 2014, the Antitrust has explained that, "in the light of numerous signallings received, the private companies of navigation, also through the Shipping Association Cabotage Partenopei (to which SNAV, Alilauro, Alilauro Gruson, Alicost, Free Navigation of the Gulf, Free Medmar Ships and Marine Services Giuffré & Lauro are under responsibility, ndr) and the Gescab society (constituted on July 23, 2009 by Alicost, Lauro.it, Alilauro Gruson and SNAV, ndr) in whose it confronts is extended the investigation, beyond having violated the engagements assumed in the within of the precedence preliminary investigation, they would afterwards have adopted susceptible behaviors common to constitute ulterior violations of the prohibition of restrictive understandings".

"From the first elements collected from the Antitrust - it has specified the AGCM - it would seem in fact to emerge a finalized activity of coordination to define tariff increments for services offered kinsmen of transport, in violation of the engagement to limit the common initiatives to the sun issues directed to the improvement of the standards of quality of the service. The signallings received on the ill services consisting in the cancellation of race, you delay or in the modification of the timetables without some warning, lascerebbero to assume a violation also of the engagement to respect standard of quality in the offer of the service of marine transport".

According to the Authority Antitrust, "the possible existence of a finalized coordination would be still noticeable to share the market of the marine transport from and towards the partenopee islands, so that every operator is to shelter from the competition of the other. The coordination of business strategies in matter of rates would moreover seem to integrate new and independent violations of the competition norms".

The AGCM has emphasized that draft of the first time in which ago use of the power to compulsory reopen a preliminary investigation closed with assumed engagements of the societies, against a violation of these last ones.