The largest terminal in the Mediterranean designated for a single ship. This is the big news that Venezia Terminal Passeggeri, the company that has been promoting and developing passenger services at the port of Venice since 1997, will present to operators of Cruise Shipping Miami, the global convention of reference for the cruise shipping sector.
Terminal 109/110 will become operational in April 2014. Formerly a warehouse for stocking freight, it will now become a self-sufficient passenger terminal on the Tagliamento Quay, offering more efficient service when two ships are docked at the same time in front of berth 107/108 and the renovated berth 109/110. Its size, 14,000 squares meters on two floors, makes it the biggest port pavilion in the Mediterranean with a standard never reached before of 2 square meters of surface area available for every waiting passenger in peak periods, greatly limiting the pressure from human activities for each operational level. The renovation project, completed in 12 months with an overall investment by VTP of 12 million Euros, is in line with the most reliable conservation criteria and fully respects the existing facility, which is controlled by the Venice Port Authority and the Committee for the Safeguarding of Venice. From technological equipment to air-conditioning and fire suppression systems, not to mention lifts and escalators, all the interventions for the structural restoration of the building followed a philosophy based on energy saving and eco-sustainability, emphasizing the aesthetic appeal of industrial archaeology through minimal but elegant furnishings. But from a logistics point of view, the new terminal marks a sharp improvement in the practicality of the Marittima area, not only for the flow of operators and passengers, but also for baggage sorting through a system of conveyor belts that direct bags and suitcases through a tunnel below the building directly to the berth.
“Berth 109/110 is the latest step in the requalification plan of the Marittima area that from an obsolete commercial port has been transformed into a state-of-the-art passenger terminal – said VPT Chairman Sandro Trevisanato. An industrial reconversion that has reclaimed an important industrial area for the city, boosting the Serenissima to the top echelon of the global cruise shipping industry, by renewing and strengthening Venice’s relationship with the sea. The development of the passenger terminal infrastructure has also strengthened the relationship based on trust with major global cruise lines. In 2014, Disney and P&O chose Venice for the first time as an operating base for the Eastern Mediterranean. Among other new developments, I would like to point out the change in the use of berth 123, which, due to the transfer of ferries to the new Fusina Terminal, will be designated entirely for niche cruise liners“.
THE VTP SUBSIDIARY PORTS NETWORK
RAVENNA
Ravenna, a UNESCO world heritage site, is the only cruise port in Emilia-Romagna, a region that boasts some of Italy’s most outstanding historical and artistic attractions, as well as fine food and wine.
About 40 ships and 45,000 passengers are expected in 2014. Among the new ships in port, Regal Princess, the biggest ever to come to the port of Ravenna, Costa Classica, Grand Celebration, Seven Seas Mariner, Insignia and Braemar.
Details of a new cruise line terminal will be announced at the end of 2014. Work for the requalification of the former pier area will begin within the next few months, thanks to the combined efforts of the Ravenna Port Authority and the Province of Ravenna, and also due to the availability of EU funding for the strategic Europe Adriatic Sea-Way project.
CATANIA
The trend of Catania Cruise Terminal, the company that manages the Catania cruise ship terminal, continues to be positive. Above all, its success can be attributed to the “Old Customs House”, the building used for arrival/departure formalities and homeport operations. The terminal stands in a renovated, imposing, historic 19th-century facility that includes a shopping centre.
In order to offer passengers an increasingly high standard of services and hospitality, an important project to improve the design and functional layout of the terminal is underway, including major intervention on the pedestrian walkway that links the terminal and the Old Customs House with a covered bridge built with solar panels. New fenders were mounted this season that will improve the performance of the quays that can accommodate three ships at the same time, tested during the days of maximum influx when a peak of 15,000 cruise passengers was registered. Important in terms of safety and management of the stream of passengers was the removal of an old crane near the port’s protruding mid-section where the passenger access/exit checkpoints to the restricted zone for ship/shore interface are located.
The crew service operation was a success. The terminal will provide a service centre reserved exclusively for crew members, where they can purchase food and personal care products and treatments just a few steps away from their ship. These interventions were all but necessary given the growth in traffic at the port of the Etna area that saw the arrival of new flagships such as the Disney
Cruise Line. The new shipyard in the south port zone will also be completed and delivered very soon. It will serve commercial traffic of ferries and containers that will enable the return of part of the port area to the city.
CAGLIARI
Cagliari Cruise Port is the company, founded in 2012, that works closely with the Cagliari Port Authority to promote and increase cruise line traffic in the Port of Cagliari. The cruise line terminal operates from the Rinascita Quay, entirely dedicated to cruise shipping, with two quays – the 480m Ponente and 450m Levante – capable of accommodating the latest generation of ships.
Operators will be shown the company’s new promotional video at Miami, which highlights the rich historical and artistic heritage and landscape of the Cagliari region, in particular the area of the Nuraghi. The capital city is becoming increasingly important in international tourism and this year will also count on tourists and sailing fans. As a matter of fact, Luna Rossa is moving to Cagliari where it will set up a new base in view of the challenge of the 35th America’s Cup, planned for the summer of 2017. Southern Sardinia with Cagliari, a candidate for Italy for the European Capital of Culture, is the first Mediterranean destination to complete “Early Adopter”, the GSTC – Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria assessment for sustainable tourist destinations.
On the basis of the success obtained, a crew service will be activated at the Catania terminal. The terminal will provide a service centre reserved exclusively for crew members, where they can purchase food and personal care products and treatments just a few steps away from their ship.
VTP ENGINEERING
VTP Engineering, the technological division of Venezia Terminal Passeggeri will present operators of Cruise Shipping Miami its portfolio of products, embarkation and disembarkation systems that serve about 2 million passengers a year in Venice, and are recognised by stakeholders to be state-of-the-art systems that enable ships to speed up embarkation/disembarkation formalities and to operate in the terminal quickly in maximum security to the full benefit of on-land services such as transfers, parking, etc. Electronics and advanced robotics for lifts, bridges and panoramic tunnels can be found in the Multipurpose Boarding Tower, a unique ensemble of glass and steel with telescopic tunnels that reach the decks of the ship from the quay, at the various levels required depending on tide conditions. These brand new structures appear as a huge gangway that is capable of moving about 3,000 passengers/hour with an obvious benefit for both the ship and the terminal, the point of arrival or departure for thousands of cruise passengers for the many excursions.
Last autumn the cold ironing project (a system of electrification of the quays) of the docks of the Marittima area, deposited Tuesday, 16 July 2013 was presented by Venezia Terminal Passeggeri to the Venice Port Authority. This energy alternative allows ships in port, currently 20% of the fleet of the latest generation of ships, to receive electric power from land without keeping their engines on to supply generators on board and to make use of the heat generated by the shore-based installation to heat and cool port terminal facilities with a significant reduction in noise emissions and pollution. In particular, thanks to increased efficiency and systems to reduce emissions present in power stations, cold ironing enables a reduction of over 30% in CO2 emissions and more than 95% in nitrogen oxide and particulate compared to on-board ship generators. The area concerned by the project is the Tagliamento Quay with buildings 107/108 and 109/110, where upon completion of work, it will be possible to supply electrical power directly from the national grid to two/three ships at the same time. Work will be completed in fifteen months at a cost of about 20 million Euros.
THE NEW ROAD NETWORK
The temporary transfer of ferries from Venice to Marghera – Vecon Terminal – and subsequent transfer as soon as it is completed to the new “Autostrade del Mare” terminal of Fusina which will be run by RO.Port MOS, freeing a significant area of the square around the Passenger Terminal, will enable VTP to increase standards of internal mobility in terms of security and smoothness, and to enlarge the parking area for cruise passengers.
A closer look at the details of the plan reveals that three islands will be created – a parking area at the Puente Quay and two at the Levanter Quay, around which the entire road system will be reorganised that envisages – as far as is practicable – one-way traffic, in order to assure more efficient movement of both service vehicles (including lorries with ship’ supplies) and private cars and buses.
The islands will be used as vehicle parking lots: at the Puente Quay, the three areas will be reserved respectively for operators (including taxis and private car rental), for cruise passengers and buses/lorries, while at the Levanter Quay, the area near the main branch; which is divided into two sections called respectively Park 4 and Park 5 will be designated to parking for the cars of cruise passengers and the other two, to the south and north of Alonzo Terminal 1 and 2 will be designated to buses and lorries.
Opposite the 9 cruise passenger terminals there will be parking areas designated exclusively for public security forces, Venice Port Authority, customs offices and for port operators for services related to cruise ships that dock along the quays of the Maritime area managed by VTP.
Particular emphasis should be given to the close proximity of the parking lots to the embarkation/disembarkation terminals to and from the cruise ships that speed up access and simplify use by providing tourists with a standard of comfort comparable with the most modern ports/airports worldwide.
The new road system and parking areas will be constantly under video surveillance and protected by security guards.
Overall, the parking areas can accommodate up to 2,500 cars (including some spaces reserved for the disabled) in addition to one hundred heavy vehicles such as Lorries and buses.