Over the last weekend, cement carrier Blue Ciment 4 from Izmir in Turkey dropped anchor at a new berth in the port of Venice: operated by Veneta Cementi under a concession arrangement, the new infrastructure is located along the Brentella Industrial Canal, an area of great importance for port operations in Porto Marghera. The ship, which was carrying 13,800 tons of cement, was the first to dock at the “Fintitan-b” berth after completion of the quayside, which was financed jointly by the concessionaire and the Port Authority.
“The arrival of the first ship at the new berth in the Brentella canal – said the President of AdSP MAS Mr Fulvio Lino Di Blasio – is yet another testimony to the vitality of our port system and shows how that part of Porto Marghera is important for port operations. The investment is the result of a fruitful collaboration between public and private entities and meets Veneta Cementi’s need for business expansion. In agreement with the concessionaire, the Port Authority has carried out the necessary works to accommodate the handling of cement carriers and allowed Veneta Cementi to operate at a temporary berth while the new infrastructure was under construction “.
In the state-owned area, structural works were carried out to build suitable protective barriers in the quayside; additionally the first stretch of the Brentella canal was dredged to ensure a depth of 9 meters below the average sea level that allows the mooring of ships with a draft of 8 meters. The dredging project involved the initial characterization and later excavation of about 45,000 cubic meters of sediments along a 190-meter quay front. The excavated sediments were delivered primarily to the Molo Sali reclaimed area and partly to the Tresse island. Other works were carried out in the private area and involved the maintenance of buildings, yards, roads and new internal roads, as well as major works on storage silos. The total cost for quayside renovation and excavation works was approximately €2 million, partly borne by Veneta Cementi which, back in 2020, had expressed interest in obtaining a multi-year concession for the berth to be used for pneumatic unloading operations and transfer of bulk cement from a self-unloading ship to the silos in the terminal. As early as 2021, the Port Authority began coordinating with the Venice Cruise Commissioner’s office and issued temporary concessions to enable Veneta Cementi to continue its bulk cement unloading operations at a berth along the north bank of the North Industrial Canal in Marghera.