The concession will have a duration of 21 years (one construction and twenty of management) and will be realized from MSC, for an investment of beyond 8 million (three of which will put them into the harbor Authority).
Italy(Brussels Morning) The Authority of Harbour System of the Strait has concluded today the procedures of the contest to public evidence for the entrustment of the concession of construction and management of own account and third account of the crocieristico terminal in the Port of Messina. The plan of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) that the Commission has evaluated is that presented by the society Messina Cruise Terminal s.r.l. of the MSC group.
The strong crocieristica vocation of the city port, confirmed by the last national data of a recent publication that they place Messina in seventh place among the Italian ports and among the first twenty in the Mediterranean, will be so ulteriorly strengthened thanks to a strategic infrastructure to service of the cruise companies and their passengers, of the operators but also of the city.
The concession of the Crocieristico terminal will have a duration of 21 years (one year of construction and twenty years of management) and will be realized from MSC, with a contribution of the AdSP of 3 million euros against a total investment of beyond 8 million.
Before the start of the contest, thanks to a series of meetings promoted by the summit of the port agency that has seen the participation of the marine agents and the institutions operating in the port, the new layout above all of the external areas, which will remain under the management of the AdSP.
On that occasion, the basic elements for the redesign of the interior spaces which the competitors would then have had to deal with were also identified. In this way the criticalities have been overcome with respect to the original project that many insiders had manifested, complaining also the lack of preventive involvement on the part of the previous management of the Port Authority.
It has been confirmed, of course, the location of the new terminal at the Colapesce dock, in a median position with respect to the three moorings available for large ships, so as to minimize the movements of passengers on foot both towards the entrance to the city, always provided through Largo Minutoli, and towards the parking stalls of the buses for cruisers engaged in scheduled excursions.
The terminal was conceived as a large covered square of about 1,900 square meters without intermediate supports, such as to allow a rational exploitation of the interior spaces and its flexibility of use. Access to the structure will take place mainly from the north side, where most of the bus stalls will be located, but also from the entrance on Via Vittorio Emanuele II.
The structure and appearance of the original project have been maintained, providing on the North side a large luggage room of about 400 square meters for the drop-off related to the luggage of passengers in boarding in Messina and for the storage of the luggage disembarking of the same passengers at the end of the cruise. The Hall, located at the new entrance on Via Vittorio Emanuele II, will allow you to check passengers before access to the waiting area.
The Sala d’Attesa, divided from the entrance by a glazed dine of reduced height, will maintain the uniqueness of the space giving the large area a strong architectural significance. The boarding area, on the other hand, is divided into two symmetrical spaces aimed at simultaneous boarding on two ships.
In order to optimize the use of the maritime station, promote attractiveness towards citizenship, and “destabilize” the use of the structure, the concept of a multi-purpose terminal has been enhanced. In winter and low season, when the terminal activities are suspended, the Sala Bagagli and the Hall-Sala d’Attesa can be dedicated to hosting conferences, workshops, parties or corporate events, exhibitions, and events open to the city, with a capacity of about 300 seats, on a maximum of 420 square meters.
The bar-restaurant and the commercial shops will have a double mode of use: in the presence of ships in the dock they will be open to the crocieristi, while in the absence of the ships they will be open to public fruition, so as to strengthen and maintain continuous the link between the city and its port. The bar-restaurant will have a capacity of 104 seats, of which 32 are in a dehors, and will be equipped with a kitchen, toilet, and a suitable warehouse area.
The planning of the construction of the new infrastructure will make it possible to guarantee the continuity of the service and limit to a minimum the possible interference of the new construction with the activities of the terminal at the moment. In fact, the demolition of the previous tensile structure is foreseen only after the construction and commissioning of the new maritime station, minimizing the time necessary for the completion of the works, scheduled for 315 natural and consecutive days.
Particular attention has also been paid to the theme of renewable energy and energy consumption: in fact, the construction of 2 photovoltaic systems of 52.48 KWp, the use of electrostatic filters for air treatment units, an anti-legionella system for domestic hot water, and the recovery of rainwater for the supply of toilet drainage boxes is planned.
It is also planned a sound broadcasting system for both music and public announcements and a digital info point capable of providing information on the departure gates, the distances to be traveled, the virtual maps and the location of the shopping areas, refreshments, etc., allowing the online update of information for passengers.
President Mario Mega said: “As is often said not all the bad things to harm. The problems that we have found in the contract started from the previous administration of the Harbour Authority, which forced us to cancel the tender, have allowed us to review not only the procedure (passing from construction contract, with the need then to make another contract for the management of the terminal, to the current one only of construction already by the private operator who will then manage it for twenty years) but also to put his hand back to the starting project.
In fact, numerous had been the criticism received by the insiders for a plant that did not take due account of the requirements of the harbor operations. Today we record with great satisfaction the result of the contest that confirms the interest that the MSC group has always had towards the port of Messina.
The original article in Italian and a plethora of the Historical Port photos can be found here.
