Responding today to a "notice of rejection" transmitted in recent days to the cruise company by the Port System Authority of the Adriatic Sea Meridionale in relation to the request for concession submitted by MSC Cruises for cruise traffic management in the ports of Bari and Brindisi, the MSC group company underlined that it having "constantly discussed with the Authority on the path to be taken during a serious and in-depth study, which began two years ago, always providing the required documentation and promptly fulfilling everything what, from time to time, is requested by the Authority".

In addition, MSC Cruises highlighted that "the Advisory Committee management of the Port Network Authority, as shown by some press reports, issued an initial favourable opinion on 31 October 2023 to the operation. The Authority - the company noted again - has also guaranteed the application submitted by MSC Cruises ample national and European advertising, inviting potential interested in submitting any comments and questions competitors who have never arrived, however".

According to MSC Cruises, "the 'notice of rejection' of the request sent to the company, formulated by the management of the Authority in August 2024, it therefore appears surprising and inexplicable, given its breadth, exhaustiveness and the correctness of the documentation provided by MSC Cruises. It - in the opinion of the cruise company - is also based on on the use of criteria of judgment other than those commonly adopted in other large Italian ports for similar operations".

Announcing that it will present its counter-arguments to the Port System Authority, MSC Cruises has expressed the hope that, "after having formulated its own considerations, the issues raised by the Management Committee, thus arriving at a reasonable and Transparent definition of the procedure, in the interest of ports of Bari and Brindisi, as well as of the entire Puglia region".

Finally, highlighting that it has significantly increased already this year its cruise traffic in the ports of Bari and Brindisi, "thus demonstrating great interest, as well as confidence, in the potential development of these ports", MSC Cruises concluded specifying that "it will take note of the final decision of the authority, reserving the right to assume in any case the better decisions on their strategies commercial for the future".