The recovery passes through the ports: "There will be a rebound in the economy", says Massimo Deiana, the president of the Sardinian Sea Authority, "and we have the ideal conditions to exploit it: we have the necessary funds and the tools to spend them. ".
In the island's eight airports, investments of € 550 million are planned: a monstrous figure, which for two thirds comes from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and from financing for the energy transition. "The only real limit is time: we will have to test the works by 2026, a fairly unusual horizon for the Sardinian and, in general, Italian landscape".
One of the main interventions concerns the canal port. “We will build the new ro-ro terminal, in order to accommodate ships carrying passengers and goods. The works are expected to start in 2023 and last 36 months. The overall project also envisages a new road connecting with the State Road 195 ».
Ferries will no longer dock in via Roma. In the meantime, the silos of the agricultural consortium have been demolished: what will become of that area?
«The historic port will be totally dedicated to pleasure boating and cruises: in four years there will be no more semi-trailers and cargo containers. We will start reasoning with stakeholders to find a new intended use. It is a strategic area for the city, which can be accessed freely because there will no longer be the need to have a sterile area for departures ».
The Special Economic Zone is taking its first steps and will be decisive for the relaunch of the Port Channel: who will be entrusted with the port?
«A dialogue is currently underway with the Qatari Q-terminals: the company is carrying out the“ due diligence ”, that is, the control of data and financial statements: it is hoped that all this will lead to the formalization of an offer. But there were also expressions of interest from other important realities ».
When will the negotiations close?
«We started discussing with the Qatari a year and a half ago: it is legitimate to think that they can be concluded by the spring. Our goal is to have a serious carer. In the meantime, the regional budget law has set up the workers' agency, this means that while waiting for the new terminal manager, port operators will have guarantees on income and training ».
Cruises: After years of growth, the pandemic has brought the industry back to square one. What will 2022 be like?
"We will approach pre-Covid levels. But the decisive year will be 2023, during which we hope to consolidate our position. Not only in Cagliari: in Olbia there is an interest from the MSC, and in recent times we have been good at proposing a "Sardinia system". Some ships go to Oristano and Arbatax, and Porto Torres also has its own movement. Multi-airport cruises are starting to be appreciated, with various stops on the island ».
Work has begun in Cagliari to create the nautical district on the east side of the canal port.
“We have 27 million euros available, the works will be completed in a year. We will have 15 shipbuilding lots that will be entrusted with a public tender. It will be a big boost for the marina: yachts go where they can do storage. And in the meantime, the tender for the waterfront in via Roma is restarting, where large investments of private capital are planned ".
What are the other interventions planned in the coming years?
"With 72 million euros we will carry out the electrification of the docks, a very important step for the ecological transition: ships will be able to turn off their engines when they are moored in port, avoiding smoking the cities with their generators".
The Arbatax airport has just entered the orbit of the authority: what will you do to relaunch it?
«The ships must be able to call easily: at the moment it is not very attractive either from a commercial point of view or from a technical point of view. It must be able to accommodate larger ferries. There is funding to build a dock dedicated to the reception of cruise ships ".
The northern ports also need structural interventions.
«The Olbia airport currently represents three fifths of passenger traffic and has great potential for the cruise market. We are developing the merchant part in the Cocciani dock, the areas available will be substantially doubled. But the main intervention concerns the dredging of the access channel ».
At the entrance to the port there are rows of mussel farming: will they have to move?
"We must be able to welcome ships safely: a dialogue with operators is necessary in order to find technical solutions to move the plants".
By the way: Gallura politics would like to transfer the authority to Olbia.
«It is a topic that is cyclically taken up and I am not passionate about it, because it is very marginal. I am the administrator of a single body for the whole of Sardinia, if you want to create two or three authorities you have to change the law, but I cannot affect this process ".
There was a commitment to establish a double location.
«Now the presidency is in Cagliari, but we go everywhere, we grind thousands of kilometers every year. And I do not accept that we are talking about curdicentric or northcentric visions. The concept of a system authority is virtuous, it allows you to manage the available resources more equitably. To understand better: the small and not very productive ports, like that of Arbatax, would never have found the necessary resources for the structural investments they need ».
Michele Ruffi
