The concession contract has been formalized and assigns the management for 25 years to the European Terminal Services (EST) of the new container terminal at the Port of Augusta, which will occupy an area of about 86 thousand square meters to which it will be transferred By March, the container handling activity currently held in the port of Catania. On the occasion of the signing of the agreement, the Port System Authority of the Seas of Eastern Sicily specified that in the new container terminal of Augusta, where general cargo and Project Cargo, containerized traffic of 50 thousand TEUs in 2024 and more than double in the following years. The port authority also recalled that EST has, among those already and others in the planning phase, a investments of almost €24 million between civil works, equipment, transport and extraordinary maintenance.

The President of the Port Authority, Francesco Di Sarcina, underlined the that this is 'an important step in the of the systemic specialisation of ports that will see Catania focused on cruises, ferries and pleasure as well as the waterfront, of course, while Augusta will welcome both containerized and bulk cargo, Project cargo and more."

Highlighting that with the new business in Augusta EST will give a strong boost to automation and digitalisation processes, with a significant upgrading of the equipment especially in light of the important project cargo traffic in the in the coming years', the company's CEO Antonio Pandolfo, remarked that "they will be Resources have also been intensified with 38 staff by 2028, including 20 units transferred from the Port of Catania and 18 additional units'.