Italy: EIB supports the upgrading and expansion of the Ports of Rome and Lazio

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 EUR 195m, equal to almost 40 percent 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 the first tranche of EUR 50m out of the total EUR 195m of EIB financing 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. 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 EUR 1.5bn of investment”.

Since 2008, the EIB has lent EUR 7.3bn to 54 projects related to European ports.

Original source: EIB
Published on 29 November 2018