Part of the material for the construction of the Bridge over the Strait will be placed in the storage areas of the areas behind the southern part of the evolution basin of the port of Gioia Tauro also intended for the docking of ships that will transport prefabricated segments and cable reels. This was announced by the Port System Authority of the Southern Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas, stating that a proposal to this effect put forward by the same authority was accepted.
The original project for the stable connection between Sicily and Calabria, as written in a note, «identified Gioia Tauro as a storage port for prefabricated segments and cable reels for the construction and constituted a significant interference with port operations, due to the mooring of the ships transporting such materials at the ‘deep seabed’ berth of the eastern quay under concession to Mct SpA and the interruption of logistical continuity due to the passage of such materials towards areas backwaters not under concession. During the Services Conference that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport promoted on 16 April 2024, the Port System Authority filed an opinion, underlining the negative impact and harmful interference of this project with the activities of the terminal operators, MCT first and foremost, and port operations in general.”
«At the same time – continues the note – a solution proposal was provided, also following inspections and meetings with the technicians of the Stretto di Messina Spa company, consisting of the infrastructure of the southern part of the evolution basin and the use for the storage of the areas behind. The solution proposed by the Authority, in agreement with the local Port Authority, was accepted and subsequently confirmed during a recent discussion with the manufacturer, the Maritime Authority having dissolved the reservation on absolute non-interference with the current evolution basin of ships.”
The Authority therefore expresses «the greatest satisfaction for the profitable synergy established with the maritime authority and the team of the Stretto di Messina company, coordinated by Valerio Mele». The solution, concludes the note, has also received the “satisfaction of the terminal operators Mct and Automar, who have now been engaged for five years in the relaunch of transshipment in the port, with new investments in port equipment and new commercial records. And a personal letter delivered in the days addressed to President Agostinelli testifies to the satisfaction of the MSC shipowner”.