As previously announced, the Port System Authority of Genoa submitted to the Management Committee (which then approved it) the acceptance of Genoa Port Terminal’s (Gpt) request for the renewal of the concession to 2054, which was issued in 2018 and annulled last autumn by the Council of State.
This was revealed by Fit Cisl following the advisory commission (a non-deliberative body that reviews the measures of the Committee for consultative purposes only) that preceded the meeting. The secretary Mauro Scognamillo confirmed to SHIPPING ITALY that the new title was based on the criteria of the provisional measure that allowed Gpt to continue operating at the terminal from the annulment until today. The last useful day: Adsp took all 90 days of the last extension to reach the vote in the Management Committee.
The concession was annulled because it was disrespectful of the Port Master Plan’s provision for the area in question of a prevalence of multipurpose traffic, since the title instead allowed (as then happened) for Spinelli to handle (and still handles today) predominantly containers in terms of tonnes. Consequently, the provisional title and now the new concession have instead stipulated that the criterion of prevalence must be defined not by weight, but by square meters dedicated to the different types of goods (areal criterion): according to what was confirmed by Scognamillo, the new title provides that the largest share of Gpt’s operational areas be dedicated to general cargo, “in addition to some other prescriptions”.
The Council of State’s ruling on the revocation of its previous sentence remains pending, just as it remains to be understood how the legislative amendment will be applied which, in the meantime, will limit the provisions of the Prp to areas and not to individual terminals (a potential full container use by Gpt could still be incompatible with the Prp, since the area includes, besides Gpt itself, only Ponte Eritrea and half of Ponte Somalia, as per the image on the page). And open, of course, is the possibility of new appeals, starting with Psa Sech, the plaintiff in the action that led to last year’s annulment.
“Finally, we have reached a conclusion of the dossier concerning the concession to the group / Hapag-Lloyd: a solution has been found in the name of common sense and in compliance with the rules and the sentence, but above all for the protection of the employment of 650 workers. After a wait lasting almost a year with absolute uncertainty about what could happen with appeals, counter-appeals and battles with stamped papers. Today must be considered a moment of restart for the port of Genoa, which must relaunch itself by enhancing the women and men who work every day in our port: we must all work together in the same direction without any ideological predominance, but with a sense of responsibility, self-sacrifice and professionalism, this is an appeal to all the protagonists in the sector.
The Fit Cisl will, as always, be committed on the front line to do its part and to guarantee the safeguarding of rights, safety, and work,” commented Fit Cisl.
In the evening, a note arrived from Palazzo San Giorgio formalizing that during the meeting of the Management Committee of the Western Ligurian Sea Port System Authority, the renewal of the concession for Genoa Port Terminal until December 31, 2054 (29 years) was approved.
“The decision, which received a favorable opinion from the Advisory Commission this morning, represents the outcome of a complex process, initiated following the State Council ruling at the end of 2024, which had annulled the original 2016 concession due to inconsistency with the Port Master Plan. The Authority followed up on the ruling by initiating a new technical and legal investigation, developed over several phases, with service conferences and technical-legal in-depth analyses carried out in recent months. In these sessions, the necessary prerequisites for the definitive issuance of the concession were verified and the criteria for the practical application of the concept of functional prevalence were defined,” is written in the Authority’s note.
Which then adds: “The new title redefines the operational conditions of the terminal, aligning them with the multipurpose function prescribed in compliance with the State Council ruling and the current PRP. In this way, the continuity of traffic, the protection of employment, and full consistency with port planning are guaranteed, even while awaiting the conclusion of the still pending appeals. The concession introduces specific constraints aimed at ensuring the full flexibility inherent to a multipurpose terminal by imposing the use of compatible equipment and defining the operational layout according to the prescriptions of the AdSP, on which the latter has submitted a specific request for clarification to the Transport Regulatory Authority in order to clarify every aspect, including regulatory ones in the competitive sphere, also providing for an innovative system of economic and administrative penalties to ensure compliance with the rules.”
In the same management committee, approval was given for a temporary use (October-December 2025) to the company FO.RE.S.T. S.p.A.
in the Ponte Somalia area, also in Genoa, for a total of approximately 16,000 square meters, intended for the handling and storage of forest products, as well as accessory services and yacht and motorboat loading operations.
For Savona, however, the Committee decided in favor of the temporary suspension of an area of approximately 2,510 square meters of the complex concessioned to Savona Terminal Auto Srl to allow, within the year, the start of the works to restore the “scassa 33” and 32 south quays in the Darsena Alti Fondali, which were damaged in March 2024 by the severe weather-marine events.
Also for Savona, the Committee also authorized the transfer of the majority shares of But Srl to FHP Group Srl: this entry “marks a strategic step for strengthening the group’s presence in the Western Ligurian Sea, creating new operational and commercial synergies between Genoa and the other ports in the network,” underlines the port authority.
The issue of the port railway shunting service in the Savona-Vado area was also addressed, “considered a central element for the logistics cycle as it allows the transfer of loads between maritime and land modes, favoring rail traffic, with environmental benefits compared to road transport,” adds the authority. “The new concession, with a duration of five years, provides for a tender base amount of 13.9 million euros, with the possibility of renewal for up to 24 months for an additional 7.5 million, for a total value of approximately 21.4 million euros.”
Staying in Savona, the Committee then examined the request from Compagnia unica Pippo Rebagliati di Savona (Culp), regarding access to the contribution under art. 17, paragraph 15-bis, for the relocation of partially unfit personnel. Costs of 113 thousand euros incurred in the second quarter of 2025 were reported and the request received a favorable opinion.
Finally, returning to Genoa, “the request from the company Bettolo Srl to territorially extend the authorizations under art. 16 L. 84/94, including the areas of the Bettolo Rugna railway park at the port of Genoa, up to the recently tested tracks numbered from 4 to 6, was accepted.”
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