Six scholarships awarded by the San Giorgio Institute Foundation, strengthening further the longstanding bond between Genoa, the port and a new generation of maritime professionals.
The new headquarters of the Italian Merchant Marine Academy have been inaugurated at Palazzo Tabarca, in the heart of Genoa’s Old Port. Italy’s distinguished Italian centre of excellence for maritime education and training has relocated along the Ligurian capital’s historic waterfront, further highlighting the inextricable link between the city and the port. The ceremony grouped together leading representatives of the institutions and the maritime-port community, including the President of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, Matteo Paroli.
In his speech, President Paroli underlined the role of professional training as a key driver in the future development of the port industry, and the need to invest in the younger generations who will be called upon to lead a sector undergoing profound transformation. Technological innovation, clean energy transition and digitalisation are rapidly reshaping vessels, operational processes and the skills required across the sector. Against this backdrop, ensuring that the specific requirements of the maritime industry are matched by appropriately trained and highly skilled professionals has become crucial.
Addressing the Academy’s students, Paroli emphasised the enduring importance of knowledge, expertise and professional preparation, even in an environment increasingly shaped by advanced technologies. “When you will find yourselves in a situation whereby you have to make an important decision together with your crew, that decision will not be made by a machine or a computer: it will be yours, and you will make it on the basis of the knowledge you have acquired during your studies. Never forget that.”
The Port Authority is also providing concrete support for initiatives aimed at young people. As part of this commitment, the San Giorgio Institute Foundation has awarded six scholarships to students of the Italian Merchant Marine Academy. “The Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, across our San Giorgio Institute Foundation, which has a distinguished history spanning 130 years, is firmly committed to investing in education and professional training. We have, therefore, awarded scholarships to students of the Italian Merchant Marine Academy, convinced that Genoa’s great maritime tradition can and must go hand-in-hand with professional training, that has itself evolved profoundly as the means of transport, technologies and energy sources we use have undergone such far-reaching change.”
The San Giorgio Institute was founded in 1894, with the establishment of the Asilo per gli Orfani della Gente di Mare, a home for the orphans of seafarers. Its history is deeply intertwined with Genoa, the port and the families of maritime workers. Today, this heritage is being carried forward through a renewed focus on education, skills development and professional opportunities for the younger generations.
Support for the Academy’s students forms part of a broader commitment to developing the specialised skills required by the technological an operational transformation of the maritime industry. The new Palazzo Tabarca headquarters, equipped with advanced maritime and port simulation systems, provides cutting-edge training facilities to prepare future professionals for the responsibilities they will face both on board vessels and across the wider maritime and logistics sectors.
“You represent an immense value for our city, our port and our maritime industry,” declared Matteo Paroli, highlighting the Port Authority’s pledge to enhancing the efficiency and safety of the next-generation of ultra-large vessels sailing across the world’s seas. “To achieve this objective, we must invest in large-scale infrastructure, innovation and technology, but also in highly skilled crews equipped to undertake the responsibilities of navigation in the increasingly complex scenarios of the future.”
