The cruise industry's premier event provided the fitting backdrop to the announcement that the Sun Princess is scheduled to make its inaugural call at the Port of Genoa next 16 May. The US Princess Cruises' newest addition to the fleet, built in Italy by the Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone, at 345 metres in length is set to rank as the longest cruise vessel, to date, to have ever docked in Genoa's passenger port.
The Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority joined forces in Miami from 8 to 11 April with the Association of Italian Ports, which grouped together the ensemble of major Italian Cruise Ports, at the Seatrade Cruise Exhibition, providing the Ports of Genoa and Savona with the opportunity to place their brand in front of the leading cruise executives and top ship and travel agents, and to illustrate the dedicated large-scale infrastructure programme in place across the ports.
With over 70 million euros allocated by the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority to address the major challenges posed globally by the industry, the Ports of Genoa area is ready to cater for the advent of the ultra-large cruise vessels and to ensure easy, safe, integrated and sustainable accessibility for the ships and the over 5 million passengers which call annually. In addition to the dredging and quay retrofitting activities recently concluded, construction works have commenced at Genoa's Ponte dei Mille Levante to extend the quay line from 290 metres to 376 metres, thereby equipping the terminal by 2025 with two quays capable of accommodating simultaneously the next generation ships. A key focal point of the investment programme is that the growth in cruise passenger throughput, across both the Ports of Genoa and Savona, is planned and governed to ensure compliance with strict standards in terms of environmental protection and sustainability. In fact, the Port Authority is on track to install on-shore power supply facilities which will be offered to all cruise ships calling at the terminals, with the objective of slashing carbon emissions and reducing noise pollution across the adjacent urban areas, as vessels will be able to switch off generators.
At the opening ceremony of the cruise industry's leading international exhibition, the official Italian high-level delegation included the Vice Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Edoardo Rixi, the Italian Consul General to Miami, Michele Mistò, the Rt. Hon. Mauro Rotelli and the Director of the Italian Trade Agency in Miami, Carlo Angelo Bocchi, together with the President of Fincantieri, Claudio Graziano, the Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises, Pierfrancesco Vago and the President of Costa Cruises, Mario Zanetti.
