EuropeOffshorePorts and Logistics

Taranto port vetoes terminal project backed by Eni and Gazprom

A special commission appointed by the port authority of Taranto in southern Italy has said no to a concession request by the Ulisse consortium, a joint venture interested in the Molo Settoriale terminal abandoned two years ago by Hutchison and TO Delta group. Members of the consortium are several local port-related companies (Taranto Iniziative Produttive and Tecnomec Engineering, Ionian Shipping Consortium) headed by Alessandro Oriolo (chairman of Saga Italia) and the proposed project for a new terminal was purpose built for oil & gas companies (Eni and Gazprom supported the initiative). The same company would have been active also in the container handling market.

The port authority’s commission denied the concession saying that “there are not sufficient guarantees about the expected traffic flows”, but the Ulisse consortium already announced that it will file an appeal against the decision.

Introducing the terminal project in details, Alessandro Oriolo recently said that huge opportunities may arise for those companies active in the oil & gas industry offering services and, most of all, manufacturing components for the onshore and offshore systems of the industry. “To date we have nothing similar in Italy, so we should copy what has been done in the Scottish port of Aberdeen for instance. It would be a central hub in the Mediterranean for handling, assembling and shipping plants and project cargoes for EPC contractors and oil majors such as Eni and Saipem,” he pointed out.

Nicola Capuzzo

Nicola is a highly qualified journalist focused on transport economics, logistics and shipping with broad experience in both online and printed media. Specialties: shipping, ship finance, banking, commodities and port economics. He regularly interviews Europe's top shipowner executives for Maritime CEO magazine.
Back to top button