After the first small (65,000 cubic meters) portion in the outer harbor, the actual dredging related to the construction of the new outer breakwater of the Port of Genoa will begin in the coming days.
This is learned from an order by the local Port Authority, which approves the request from the “Western Ligurian Sea Port System Authority” for the issuance of a permit to carry out dredging activities in the outer harbor area of the eastern entrance of the Port of Genoa (Zone A) and the Sampierdarena Channel of the Port of Genoa (Zone B), followed by the filling of caissons. The order states that these activities will be performed by the companies Fincosit Srl and Fiom (Fincantieri Infrastructures Opere Marittime, ed.) Spa on behalf of the Pergenova Breakwater consortium.
The order is valid until the end of December and explains that the work will be carried out using the vessels M/N Annamaria Zeta and San Luca Primo, with a shift system to cover a total of 18 working hours distributed over a 24-hour period, depending on operational needs and environmental conditions. As previously reported by SHIPPING ITALY, the dredging will be less extensive (about 400,000 cubic meters) than initially planned but will still allow deepening the seabed of Sampierdarena’s commercial docks, partly to -17 meters and partly to -18.5 meters.
The order naturally cites the decree by the special commissioner for the project (Marco Bucci), which, in compliance with last autumn’s Environmental Decree, approved the updated Materials Management Plan a few days ago and authorized Bucci himself, by derogation from ordinary law, to discharge the dredged materials. On this matter, Arpal issued a favorable opinion, with the stipulation that “operational procedures at the unitary sampling cells where Class E sediments are present must be adequate and effective to prevent the dispersion of such sediments, which in any case must not be used for filling the caissons.”
This stipulation must be fulfilled during the work, while more contentious is the one issued by the Regional Environmental Protection Agency for the remaining material (gravel and stones for columns, groynes, and berms), citing insufficient documentation provided by a supplier regarding 77 out of 140 source sites. For the discharge, the Decree, which aligns with the 2006 Environmental Consolidated Law, requires proof of the environmental compatibility/harmlessness of inert and inorganic geological materials. This proof is primarily provided through documented certification of the traceability of such materials.
The request to “acquire all mandatory elements and contents of the Plan pursuant to Article 5 of Decree-Law /2024 converted by Law /2024, and in particular that the declared and used traceability system for material from the 63 included quarries (…) be ensured for all producer sites” was not, according to Bucci’s deputy, sub-commissioner Carlo De Simone, a requirement for the adoption of the Plan but only for the works: “The requested documentation pertains exclusively to activities related solely to the works covered by the Layout Variant, the execution of which has not yet begun.”
Therefore, the prescription will be duly complied with before the commencement of the aforementioned works.”
However, the opinion and prescription concern the entire Plan, which, moreover, drafted at the end of May, highlights that part of the documentation-deficient material supplied by the manufacturer (San Colombano Costruzioni) has already been used in the second quarter of 2025. But De Simone appears to challenge Arpal’s assessments at the root: “The traceability of materials from quarries is a legal obligation, fulfilled through the production of relevant documentation, consistently subject to the supervision and verification of the Construction Site Management. Such traceability is also guaranteed for the activities currently underway. It is specified, in fact, that all quarries supplying material for the new breakwater dam project have been duly qualified for these supplies, following a specific and rigorous process.”
Meanwhile, the eleventh caisson of the dam out of a total of 103 was installed in recent days. Lastly, it should be noted that the decision regarding the usability for caisson filling of materials from the Sestri Ponente shipyard remains pending, as it falls under the responsibility of Mase.
