EIB supports the upgrading and expansion of the Ports of Rome and Lazio in Italy
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is supporting the development of the Ports of Rome and Lazio (Civitavecchia, Fiumicino and Gaeta) with an approved loan of €195m, equal to almost 40 per cent of the local Port Authority’s multi-year investment plan. The EIB loan will cover the financing of the extension of the Port of Civitavecchia, about 60 km north-west of Rome, and the construction of a new seaport for freights and passengers in Fiumicino, 20 km west of the capital.
EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco and the President of the Port Authority Francesco Maria di Majo signed a first tranche of €50m out of the total €195m of EIB financing today in Rome.
The Ports of Civitavecchia and Fiumicino are important nodes for passenger and freight flows in Central Italy and are part of the so-called Motorway of the Sea of the South-West Europe Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Corridor. As such, the two ports are key nodes in the connection between Italy and the Mediterranean regions of Sicily and Sardinia, Southern France and North Africa.
The investment will include, in Civitavecchia, the extension of the outer breakwater, dredging works, development of a new basin for short-sea shipping, nautical port services and construction of a new road access to the port (Access North). In Fiumicino, the project will involve the construction of two new breakwaters, dredging works for the new basin, construction of a multi-purpose berth for both Ro-Ro (roll-on roll-off of wheeled passenger and freight vehicles) and fishing vessels.
Dario Scannapieco, EIB Vice-President, said: “Ports are key for the economy of a country like Italy, which is significantly export and tourism driven. Seaport shipping of goods and passengers is also crucial in order to transfer traffic from land-based, congested and more carbon-intensive modes of transport, such as road and rail transport. This is why the European Investment Bank has supported crucial investments in Italian ports: Genoa, Savona, La Spezia, Livorno and Ravenna in the last six years, and other projects will be financed in the coming months. Now, with the Ports of Rome and Lazio, we are reaching about EUR 800m worth of loans to Italian ports, triggering €1.5bn of investment”.
Francesco Maria di Majo, President of the “Sistema Portuale del Mar Tirreno Centro-Settentrionale” Port Authority (ADSP), said: “The EIB support is of paramount importance for the ports of Rome and Lazio and will allow the ADSP to complete most of the works envisaged in the port regulatory plan of Civitavecchia and Fiumicino. The system of the Ports of Rome and Lazio will thus be able to fulfil the long-awaited “qualitative leap” in the world shipping scene. Finally, the capital of Italy and the surrounding areas (which represent the second largest consumption basin at the national level and the fifth at European level) as well as the main Italian airport (Fiumicino) will have equipped ports that meet the commercial, industrial and tourist needs of the territory”.
Since 2008, the EIB has lent €7.3bn to 54 projects related to European ports.
