Feasibility Study of the ship repair market in the port area and of the compatibility of repairs with the activities related to recreational boating.
Client: Geosynthec S.r.l. for the Commerce Chamber of Livorno
Period of implementation: 2008
Total value of works: not available
Value of our services: Euro 23.000
The study was commissioned by the Livorno Chamber of Commerce to the Trieste firm Geosynthec S.r.l., which utilized the collaboration of Acquatecno S.r.l. for further research on the maritime works.
The study defines the operational possibilities of the activities for naval repair in the Port of Livorno, highlighting possible conflicts with tourist activities. Specifically it examines the compatibility of the Bacino Grande, if restructured and utilized for ship repairs, and the urban renovation and tourist project called “Gate to the Sea”, involving the adjacent Medici Port, the Andana delle Ancore, the Spianata del Mediceo and the New Dock.
The study started from the bankruptcy of the historic Fratelli Orlando shipyard, whose area was granted in 2003 to the Azimuth Benetti company, which partly set up its own shipyard there and partly designated it for an urban and tourist development. The Bacino Grande and the pertaining area, however, were unused, and no formal decisions were made on their utilization.
The study has two phases: the information phase to identify the needs to satisfy and the problems to face, and the proposal phase which defines the various project solutions illustrated below.
Hypothesis 1 – Utilization of the masonry dry dock or Bacino Grande and the adjacent area to ship repair activities
Hypothesis 1 involves the renovation of the Bacino Grande including the overhaul of the equipment, especially the pump and power supply systems, the latter being necessary to ensure the necessary autonomy to the Morosini Dock, and the restoration of full efficiency to the floating dock moored in the vicinity.
The estimate of the potential environmental impact deriving from the undertaking of ship repairs involved the reduction of the activities, such as the possibility of using the Bacino Grande only for the repairs of small and medium size vessels and the definition of important mitigation works.
Hypothesis 2 – Transfer of the ship repairs activities from the Bacino Grande area
Hypothesis 2 contains two separate phases, Phase A involving the transfer of ship repairs to the Pisa Dock and Phase B in which, once the Port of Livorno is enlarged as set forth in the Port Planning Scheme, the ship repairs will be located or either at the Toscana Dock (hypothesis 2, Phase b, Alternative 1) or the Europa platform (Hypothesis 2, Phase b, Alternative 2). The removal of ship repairs from the Bacino Grande will, in fact, require the availability of areas and facilities outside the Port, and such availability will vary according to the expansion of their infrastructure.
The transfer of ship repairs will allow the possibility of the conversion of the Bacino Grande and the pertaining area to uses compatible with urban and tourist requirements of the adjacent areas, as stated in hypothesis 2, phases a and b. Two alternatives for conversion have been identified: the construction of a cruise ship terminal, or the construction of a tourist harbour with approximately 653 berths for recreational boats with a length overall between 8 and 80 m, the relative services and the on-shore facilities.
With regard to the environmental compatibility between the proposed tourist activities and the adjacent urban and tourist ones, the study highlights that the best situation involves the conversion of the Bacino Grande basin into a tourist dock, suggesting that this solution be adopted as the final aim of the development and upgrading policies not only for the area of the study but rather the entire Port of Livorno.
