Jeff Bezos arrived in Cagliari in recent days for a short stop on his amazing holidays as the third richest man in the world. He moored not one, but two boats: the mega sailing ship Koru , a 127-meter three-masted vessel , and the yacht Abeona , a 75-meter which - since the Amazon boss complained about the lack of space - serves as a escort, also useful as a landing pad for the helicopter.
Alongside these wonders of opulence that travel on routes different from those of ordinary mortals and migrants, the ultra-luxury boats Blanca , a splendid 52 metre, and MMM, 49 metres, also stand out on the city's horizon these days. «It is the preview of what will happen to the historic port when, in twenty-four months, there will be the large hotel and services for these large yachts», says Natale Ditel, general secretary of the Sardinia Sea Port Authority. Two years of work, approximately. The construction site will start tomorrow, he explains, while the demolition of the old maritime station will begin in early September. «The historic port will only welcome cruise ships and large yachts, while, but here the objective is 2029, the traffic of goods and passenger ships will all go to the canal port».
The destination
Not only a privileged sailing center, but also a destination for international mega yacht traffic. «Cagliari has been a destination for some years now», underlines Ditel. He quotes Giorgio Armani, and glosses over the Indian and Chinese magnates, perhaps the most fond of the coasts of Southern Sardinia. Meanwhile, it should be remembered that in June the 145-metre giga yacht Luminance owned by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov stood out at the Ichnusa pier; while in May the Rinascita pier welcomed the Celebrity Ascent, a cruise ship rented by Anant Ambani, son of the Indian tycoon Mukesh (the richest man in his country) and fiancé who arrived in Cagliari with hundreds of guests for one of the stages of her premarital journey. «Here they find privacy and, even in winter, a lively and livable city», points out Natale Ditel. «The objective, between the shipbuilding industry that we are developing in the large spaces of the canal port and the future service center which will guarantee the owner and crew everything they need when they go ashore, is to make Cagliari a destination all the year".
Decades of emptiness
Filippo Trudu Tronci, director of Karalis Yacht Services srl, instead points out, «the forty-year delays from an infrastructure point of view; shortcomings which, as private individuals, we try to fill with the very high quality of service on international standards". He therefore speaks as an entrepreneur who, having been on the market for fifteen years, has to deal with bureaucracy and the shortcomings of the public sector. Thus, if in terms of infrastructural delays he says that there is a lack of "a functioning airport, passenger logistics, safe and international port management", he warns that there is also a lack of "modern and international management of maritime state concessions". Cagliari, he says, «has enormous potential, but this is a meritocratic market: the more quality services you are able to guarantee, the more yachts arrive».