In the port of Palermo, the new terminal for the landing of hydrofoils has been inaugurated



Today, in the port of Palermo, the new terminal for the landing of hydrofoils used in the connection with the Aeolian and Ustica Islands, the new robe of the Sammuzzo quay, the parking at the service of captaincy and customs and mooring dolphin in the head of the Molo Vittorio Veneto. In addition, the stone for the total redevelopment of the Trapezoidal Pier.

The new hydrofoil terminal has been built at the end of The Sammuzzo Pier to respond to the growing traffic needs to and from Ustica and the main Aeolian Islands and to offer hospitality and services to the million passengers in departure or in transit, both in the summer and in those Winter. The terminal has air-conditioned rooms for the ticket office and waiting, and then bars and amenities, plus a space outdoors equipped with coffee tables and chairs. The building is located along the dividing wall that separates the Sammuzzo quay from the rest part of the Trapezoidal Pier.

In addition, the entire Sammuzzo quay, 350 meters long, is been affected by a massive consolidation work, which the makes it usable to the latest generation cruise ships, and by a significant demolition campaign that has changed its structure functional and perceptual: the cranes have been eliminated, placed in end of the quay, as well as the rails, now in Disuse. In their place, so much greenery and a terminal spread to accommodate over one and a half million cruise passengers expected to arrive thanks to the concession signed last December with two of the most important cruise lines in the world, Costa and MSC ( of the 22nd November 2019).

For the consolidation and functional restyling of the quay Sammuzzo, the excavator of the seabed of the Crispi 3 basin and the connected consolidation of the foranea dam, the mooring dolphin - extension of the quay to accommodate the great ships of last generation - in the head of the Vittorio Veneto pier and the new hydrofoil terminals were spent about 51, million euros financed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport also through European funds.

With the laying of the first stone, the redevelopment of an area of 26,000 square meters at the Pier trapezoidal that, in line with the Port Master Plan, will undergo significant changes aimed at improving the the provision of services for cruise cruciers and the community. Next to the Archaeological Park of the Castello a Mare, of which excavations they have tracked down the perimeter, a walk will be made, a square, an urban lake, nine buildings with various destinations, including including an auditorium and a 200-seat panoramic amphitheater, parking lots. The work will last a year and a half and investments are planned for €25.5 million.

"Ours," underlined the President of the Port System of the Western Sea of Sicily, Pasqualino Monti - it is an extraordinary circular project because, consolidated or built the infrastructure for the benefit of ships to be cruise, we are ready to host ships of all sizes and, moreover, to the cruise industry we can support heavy industry, the industrial basin for the construction of boats. Here then take shape a complete industrial asset, combined with a corollary of services and beauty of the city that makes the the rest.'

"In the western Sicily project," continued Monti, " perfectly integrate some of the main functions that the State ads, some of which should be strengthened in order to achieve better results. I like to talk about a precise method that led us to get obvious results. In Palermo we are the separation of flows (freight traffic from traffic passenger transport), from large-scale infrastructure works (dredging, elongation and consolidation of the quays, dolphin), from the consolidation of major infrastructure, the redevelopment and construction of accommodation facilities adapted to the market (station hydrofoil terminals). These interventions have been the promotion of airports, i.e. the need to promote the product made on the market. Which means putting the new, modernised, income-based assets, thus increasing the level of revenues of our Authority. And we did through the regulatory element, that of the concession state-owned state. In the case of cruises, as you know, it was launched a tender for the concession, awarded in December of 2019 last year, by two of the most important cruises to the world, Costa and MSC - to which it could add a third of equal importance, Royal Caribbean -- engaged in a few years to bring over a million and a half cruise passengers into the our ports. Fundamental, in order to do this, the funds available from MIT, in the face of projects immediately cantierable.'

Monti also announced a new employment: 'two PPP (Public/Private Partnership) projects, one for energy efficiency and the other for services in port sector, and the increase in ro/ro traffic (+18.8%) - explained -- made it possible to close a trade union agreement that brought the Port Workers' Company and port companies to stabilise 99 port workers indefinitely and hire 95 always indefinitely. A concrete result that, despite the moment of great uncertainty we are going through, underlines the port's potential in designing and future in which we want to live.