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PORTS
Porto Marghera, inauguration of the new single-section underground pipeline for the transfer of vegetable oils
With its 3.1 kilometers, it is the longest in Italy and among the top five in Europe
Venezia
December 18, 2025
Today in Porto Marghera the new
underground pipeline for the transport of vegetable oils that puts in place
direct connection to the production plant in via Banchina Molini di
Cereal Docks, where the product is unloaded from the ship, and the
coastal depot in via Righi, where the park is located
storage tanks.
The work, which is part of the Authority's Three-Year Operational Plan
of the Port System of the Northern Adriatic Sea, is
the result of an investment worth a total of five million
of euros and consists of an underground pipeline at 50 meters
of depth which is 3.1 kilometers long, of which 2.7
made with TOC (Horizontal Drilling) technology
Controlled), and is capable of transferring up to 300 meters
cubes per hour of vegetable oils between the two sites. This is the TOC
longest single-route in Italy and one of the main
European achievements of its kind, a strategic infrastructure
for the logistics modernization of the Cereal Docks group under the banner
the reduction of the environmental impact of transport.
The new pipeline overcomes a historical logistical criticality:
the impossibility for the coastal depot to receive ships at
due to the insufficient seabed, which for years had imposed the
transfer by road of the oils landed at Banchina Molini.
The new link eliminates this step, reduces traffic
in the industrial area, increases safety and makes it easier to
efficient and sustainable management of landing operations and
storage. The long-awaited completion of the excavation of the Canal
Industrial West could allow, in the future, access to ships
of larger tonnage, completing the framework of investments
infrastructure and further strengthening the strategic role of the
port of Venice in the production chain of Cereal Docks.
The construction of the pipeline required a major
engineering work: the pipeline, buried 50 meters above sea level,
depth, crosses more than twenty properties
and three canals of the Venetian Lagoon. The work was
made with the "Meeting in the Middle" technique, which
saw two construction sites work in parallel until they joined in
a single continuous section, equipped with relay stations of the
pressure and Pipeline Inspection Gauge (PIG) systems for cleaning and
internal inspections.
"From 2011 to today - recalled the president of Cereal
Docks Group, Mauro Fanin - the Marghera plant has
Processed nearly 10 million tons of raw materials
plants, accounting for about 50% of the traffic
linked to agribusiness. Continuous investments for the
revamping of the plant, but also for energy efficiency and
Logistics are tangible proof of our commitment. Cereal
Docks has always recognized the strategic role of the port of
Venice and also this new investment - which does not generate a
direct economic return, but has a strong environmental value,
logistics and infrastructure - goes in this direction. The goal
that we have set ourselves in the business plan to 2028 is to increase
the volumes of the Marghera plant by 50%, reaching one million
and a half tons processed per year; To do so, however, they are
adequate infrastructures are needed, first and foremost the interventions to
the excavation of canals that allow the passage of larger ships
tonnage for the supply of raw material".
With regard to the nautical accessibility of the port of
Venice, and in particular of Porto Marghera, the president
of the Port Authority, Matteo Gasparato, highlighted that it is "a
essential condition to ensure safety of the
navigation, business continuity and full development of our
port system. In this context - he underlined - the opinion
expressed by the National EIA Commission on the new website
for the planting of sediments south of the Isola delle Tresse
represents a decisive step: without a structural solution and
for sediment management is not
it is possible to ensure constant and effective maintenance dredging.
We are talking about a strategic project of 82 million euros, extended over
46 hectares, with a transfer capacity of 6.8 million
cubic meters and an operational horizon of at least fifteen years, which
will allow to give certainty to the essential interventions
to Porto Marghera. Alongside this - added Gasparato - is
it is essential to proceed with the maintenance excavation of the port canals,
starting from the West Canal, and with the interventions on the Canal
Malamocco-Marghera, which is the main access axis
at the industrial yard. Nautical accessibility is not
An abstract theme, but a concrete lever of competitiveness:
it means allowing ships to enter and exit safely,
reduce risks, increase port reliability and
make the most of existing infrastructure. It is on
these works, which have already largely begun or are in the process of being
environmental assessment, which plays a fundamental part of the
future of Porto Marghera and its ability to continue to
to be an industrial and logistics hub of reference for the country".
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