The Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority received a delegation from the Brazilian Port of Itajaí, led by the President João-Paulo Tavares Bastos Gama, on a fact-finding mission in Italy to gain a greater insight into the governance and management of container handling operations and cruise passenger activities at the Ports of Genoa and Savona-Vado Ligure. The visit strengthens further the commercial ties between the two ports: Itajaí, together with Navegantes, is in fact the Ports of Genoa’s third-largest Brazilian export destination.
The group inspected Savona’s Palacrociere terminal, where discussions focused on passenger flow management and the intricate operational dynamics of cruise terminals. A key issue that emerged is the global challenge posed by vessel upsizing for port authorities and cruise terminal operating companies alike, requiring an extensive upgrading of infrastructure to cater for the technical specifications of the next-generation ultra-large cruise ships and an optimisation of the operational processes to ensure greater efficiency in passenger flow procedures.
The visit continued at Vado Gateway, Italy’s first semi-automated deep-sea container terminal and amongst the most technologically advanced in the Mediterranean, attracting considerable interest on the part of the delegation for the state-of-the-art yard operations, and at the multipurpose Reefer Terminal, which ranks as the Mediterranean's leading perishable goods terminal and as a strategic hub for banana imports into Italy.
In Genoa, the Brazilian delegation was provided with the opportunity to inspect the cargo and passenger handling facilities and shipyards by boat, and to observe the wide range of major infrastructure projects underway, designed to boost further the overall competitive edge of the Western Ligurian Sea Ports as southern maritime gateway into Europe.
