Filipino ICTSI look into Taranto

Taranto - The port of Taranto is racing against time. The Port Committee has approved the cancellation of the container terminal’s concession to TCT. The shareholders of the company, Hutchison and Evergreen, announced on 12 June the liquidation of the company and the subsequent initiation of a mobility process for its 540 employees. 28 May was the last day of the workers’ redundancy payment scheme and they seem to be the most vulnerable parties in this affair: there’s an urgent need for a solution before they are left jobless and without an income. The Port Committee needs to find a new operator who can take over the management of the container terminal and restart activities in the port of Puglia. At the moment, according to reliable sources, there are several groups eyeing the port of Taranto.

“But for now the only one that has come forward,” says the president of the port, “is the Filipino ICTSI.” The Asian company is rapidly expanding and has recently invested in the North Adriatic at Rijeka. And if the negotiations are successful, it could also establish itself in Puglia by managing the container terminal in Taranto, which has been in financial trouble for months. Inaugurated in 2001, the terminal achieved a peak of 892,000 TEU in 2006 before starting a negative spiral which led to current levels of almost zero. Recently the government expressed interest in finding a solution that would allow the terminal to resume activities and safeguard its workers’ jobs. But time is running out: according to mobility regulations their dismissals will become effective in less than fifty days.