Shipyards, new Bisagno-Fincantieri Alliance

Genoa - The scene is changing, but the main players are the same. At the centre is the future use of the Riparazioni Navali area in the port of Genoa. But even more importantly, the management of five careening basins at least until 2020, basins that are currently managed by a public company, Ente Bacini, which is 89% owned by the Port Authority, and which will soon be privatised. In recent weeks, Genoa’s Port Authority issued a press release to the effect that interested companies could receive information in advance of the official publication of the tenders that will to lead to a winner being chosen by the end of the year. Among the companies interested in the repairs area are the Mariotti-San Giorgio shipyard and Amico &Co. Plus the Italian giant Fincantieri, which has never denied the possibility of its involvement. For some time leaks have been circulating about a proposal that two or more of these companies could submit their interest to the Port Authority. Initially it seemed that there might be an agreement between the two Genoese companies, specifically to prevent the basins ending up under the control of Giuseppe Bono’s company.

But according to sources close to the matter, this complex puzzle seems to have changed in recent days. The Mariotti-San Giorgio Group and Fincantieri may, in fact, be considering a joint proposal to manage the five basins in the port of Genoa at least until 2020. “For now, nothing is certain, but we spoke about these possibilities in Miami,” Marco Bisagno admitted. The President of Mariotti has always supported the expansion of the entire Naval Repair area, a sector that, although it was in the ‘Blue Print’ prepared by Renzo Piano could also have a new open space, the Duca degli Abruzzi Piazza which would be created by filling in the Marina. It is an operation that recently caused some confusion, and was quickly rejected by the vice president of Confindustria Genoa. “I don’t want to get into any more disputes,” Bisagno explained, “but we have heard various opinions and this project in front of the Yacht Club will happen.

And the space will be used for many different purposes, not only for sporting units.” So according to this new scenario, Amico &Co would be excluded from the proposal for the direct management of Ente Bacini. In any case, it was considered a step backwards, since the company led by Alberto Amico, besides having covered its own basin, could aim to enlarge elsewhere by asking for the management of the Yachting Wharf at the Fiera di Genova, Genoa’s fairgrounds. It is an area that has always interested the Genoese company and which is currently managed by an UCINA subsidiary. The concession to UCINA expires at the end of the year and it will almost certainly not be renewed, as Port President Luigi Merlo first told the MediTelegraph. Amico &Co. could ask to manage the area and use it to dock yachts and for small refitting jobs. This management deal could be arranged in collaboration with the Pesto brothers, the Genoese brokers who already have a presence at the Porto Antico Marina.