In the competitive battle that began last May in the bunkering services within the port of Genoa, another significant episode is recorded because, according to reports from the maritime workers of the company Ciane, new critical issues have emerged. The reference is to the barge San Polo, currently put back into service by the new concessionaire company Petromar S.r.l. in refueling ships after a period of stoppage imposed by the Port Authority, “following serious and numerous irregularities found during an inspection visit.” A return to service that, however, according to reports from the workers of the competing company, “would allegedly continue to not fully comply with the provisions of the safety regulations of the Port of Genoa, issued by the same Port Authority.” The reference is in particular to the articles of the regulation that govern the methods of evaluation regarding the issuance of bunkering service concessions and the condition that the units employed must always be in a condition to autonomously move away from the refueled ships. “It was found – they state – that to maneuver in mooring and unmooring, after encountering no small maneuvering difficulties, it indeed had to request the simultaneous assistance of a pilot and a tugboat. An anomalous fact – they add – because the decades-long tradition of Genoese bunkering has always been based on agile, self-sufficient bunker barges capable of operating in almost any weather condition, without ever needing port support vessels, always maintaining the condition of exemption from pilotage.”
Also according to the reconstruction provided, an emblematic case would have occurred on August 20, “a day on which the San Polo urgently needed a pilot and tugboat both for unmooring from the Giaccone berth and for mooring to the ferry Moby Ale Due, as well as for the subsequent phase of unmooring from the ferry and subsequent mooring at the same berth. Circumstances that never occurred with the historical operator Ciane S.p.A. which, thanks to the technical characteristics of the vessels employed, has always guaranteed efficiency and operational autonomy.”
The requested assistance of a tugboat and pilot translates into “inevitable operational delays, with direct repercussions on the regularity of the lines, particularly the ferries, which in the spring and summer period, characterized by high traffic, often have very limited layover times. According to the operators and workers in the sector, in fact, – adds the reconstruction by the workers of Ciane – the use of the San Polo also introduces new elements of risk for the safety of navigation and port infrastructure.”
Conditions that bring a safety alarm back to the surface with the winter season approaching: “If difficulties are already emerging today in calm sea and wind conditions, the situation risks worsening drastically with the usual autumn and winter storms, even sudden ones, as we are now accustomed to seeing. A unit with such a degree of maneuverability – denounce the workers of Ciane – would represent precisely a significant vulnerability: delays, congestion, and accidents would become increasingly concrete scenarios.”
Unions and maritime workers have long denounced what they consider to be a dangerous drift: “The historical bunkering operators – they write – are being penalized and the overall quality of the service is significantly lowered.
The fear is that, if these exceptions become standard practice, the port of Genoa would become less safe and less competitive compared to the standards of the main European ports. Immediate intervention is therefore urgently needed.” The workers are asking the Port System Authority and others to intervene and to vigilate firmly. “With bad weather arriving in the coming weeks, Genoa cannot afford fragile bunkering: the risk is not only of slowdowns, but of accidents that could compromise the safety, traffic, and international reputation of the port.”
“This way, historical services are penalized and the port’s competitiveness is lowered,” emphasize the union representatives of Ciane. “For this reason, we are determined to go forward until we are heard and the competent authorities adequately receive and evaluate our demands, imposing the full respect of the rules and conditions required for the safe conduct of the bunkering service, and we are also prepared for more decisive measures if it should become necessary; some of us have worked in this sector for decades, in some cases passing the profession down to their children, and for this reason too we certainly will not remain helpless in observing such an evident downgrading of the bunkering service, which over the years has been carried forward with commitment, sacrifice, and dedication by the company and the employed workers, always with the aim of preserving the safety and functionality of the port area, as well as the good reputation of one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean.”
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