The ports of western Sicily unlock 45 construction sites and infrastructural works for 645 million euros. Costa Cruises and MSC Cruises sign the agreement for the management of the cruise terminals of the system

The most striking positive example of struggle and victory over bureaucracy comes from the port of Palermo. In just over a year the Port Authority of the Western Sicilian Sea presided over by Pasqualino Monti has unblocked 45 construction sites for the construction of new works, starting at a conclusion works blocked in some cases for over twenty years, for a total value of 645 million euros, of which 387 in the port of Palermo.

So starts one of the most important operational bases of the cruise market. The first step was accomplished with the signing of the agreement with two of the world’s most important cruise giants, Costa Cruises (of the American Carnival Group) and MSC Cruises (of the Geneva Group headed by shipowner Gianluigi Aponte) who will jointly manage , under concession, the new port facility.
And it is about the potential and the effects that the cruise market, especially thanks to the latest generation super-vats, gives,  was the conference, “We, the Mediterranean”, that the Port System Authority of Western Sicily has organized by recalling to Palermo some of the most important prlayers of international shipping.

“For us – said Pasqualino Monti, (photo) president of the Port System Authority – today is a doubly important date. On the one hand, we are able today to affirm that we have reawakened the port of Palermo and at the same time those of Trapani, Termini Imerese and Porto Empedocle that, having emerged from lethargy, have been able to cut the chains of bureaucracy and regain the role of towing Sicilian economy and tourism. On the other hand, we have reported this extraordinary and unique area at the center of the Mediterranean and of the interests of the large cruise market groups “. Conquest also reflected by the hypothesis that it is becoming a reality to make the shipyard of Fincantieri a center not only for the repair and extension of boats, but also for the construction of large passenger ships of which Fincantieri is the world leader ”.
Overall, the ongoing project in western Sicily has already boosted the system’s revenue from 25 million in 2017 to over 153 million. The occupational impact reflected by a record growth in the number of days worked drastically cut the recourse to layoffs.
President Monti strongly pointed the finger at the bureaucratic damages deriving from the equation of the ports with members of the public administration, which accentuated the systemic defect that aims to contain the debt rather than to implement the measures that allow to the GDP to develop.

Fincantieri will build cruise ships also in the port of Palermo. Starting from 2023 one of the ships in the Italian shipbuilding group’s order book will be built in Palermo, as a result of a massive intervention deliberated by the Port Authority on the dry dock and on the intention to create an indispensable supply chain system to support the construction of a large passenger unit. This is what was announced by Pasqualino Monti at the conclusion of the conference “Noi, il Mediterraneo” which had already been characterized by great concreteness with the signing of the deed of entrustment to MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises for the management of passenger traffic in the ports of the Western Sicily system .
Not a formality, but a convinced and conscious turning point, made possible, as reiterated both by Pier Francesco Vago, executive chairman of Msc Crociere and by Beniamino Maltese, Senior vice president of Costa Crociere, ready to concentrate on Sicilian ports.
Today’s event has strongly highlighted a sort of uniqueness of Palermo: uniqueness that according to Gian Enzo Duci, President of Federagenti, is represented by a president able to break not in words but with concrete facts, a bureaucracy and therefore a fear widespread to suffer, even on a personal level, the consequences of any choice, the immobility that paralyzes almost all ports.
Also for Stefano Messina, President of ASSARMATORI, the Palermo case represents an exception and a case to follow and the proof that a strong will can get the results that seem impossible.
For Mario Mattioli, the lack of the logistic bill shows that Italy has and must change, perhaps immediately giving life to at least one undersecretary with total delegation to the “sea affairs” today dispersed among nine different ministries.

“The Palermo experience – said Monti – is showing that” it can be done “even if it means for those who manage the public thing, and in particular the ports, the assumption of personal risks”. In remembering the very longlasting times for the beginning of the works of a maritime work above the threshold, as well as the folly of the dredging legislation, Monti relaunched the idea of ​​a special order that would allow ports to respond in the times that the market requires to instances of large operators, generating wealth for the territory.
Indirectly responding also to the positive provocation launched by Mayor Leoluca Orlando, who said that “Palermo can play the role of Brussels of the Mediterranean on the market as it is proposed, the AdSP president launched a double signal:” Do not surrender to the wall impassable erected by the bureaucracy and not to be afraid ”. As is happening in Palermo, ready to “realize the impossible”