A great success for the first edition of Breakbulk Italy, the business meeting organised by Shipping Italy at the Venice Heritage Tower on 18 October, sponsored by Animp and Assiterminal and with the support of the Port Authority of the Northern Adriatic Sea, which saw about 250 professionals from the Breakbulk sector discuss the most topical issues concerning the shipment of machinery, plant engineering, project cargo and various goods.
The ‘face-to-face’ between demand and supply of break bulk and project cargo shipping and logistics saw Luca Edallo (Saipem), Paolo Fedeli (Belleli Energy Cpe and Associazione Italiana Pressure Equipment), David Bernardi (Fincantieri), Antonio Piga (Ansaldo Energia), Bruno Bianchi (Sofinter), Paolo Maffeis (Siad), Alessandro Fiorani (Danieli & C.. Officine Meccaniche) as well as Massimo Naldini (Integra Excellence) in the first panel, while Paolo Cornetto (F2i Holding Portuale), Carlo Montaperto (Boriani), Enrico Salvatico (Animp and Studio Legale Mordiglia), Matteo Fortuna (Bbc Chartering Genoa), Marco Zollia (Trieste Marine Terminal), Bruno Savio (Interporto Rivers Venezia) and Luca Abatello (Circle) tried to provide answers.
Fulvio Lino Di Blasio, president of the Port System Authority of the Northern Adriatic Sea opened the proceedings by illustrating the strengths of the ports of Venice and Chioggia, which can count on 250 km of barrier-free access roads, the waterway as far as Mantua and Cremona, and an infrastructure system with production, assembly, and logistics facilities, all just a few metres away from the quays for sea transport.
Seven representatives from the demand side of the machinery, plant, break bulk and project cargo business met with seven representatives from the supply side, i.e. freight forwarders, port terminal operators and logistics service providers. The result was a fruitful moment of collaboration and sharing on some of the most topical issues, critical issues and opportunities that non-unitised cargo transport has faced in the recent past and will face in the near future.
The title of the Business Meeting, ‘What is needed in the market for miscellaneous goods and project cargo in Italy?’, was answered by the shippers taking part in the panel, while the representatives of the port, transport and break bulk service offerings in turn put forward their own proposals and innovations for improving the logistics of heavy lift, project cargo or non-unitised cargo.
Among the many ideas that emerged were the proposal of an industrial corridor to guarantee export logistics for machinery and plants produced in northern Italy, greater exploitation of river transport also through incentive policies, a map of infrastructures and transport routes suitable for the transit of exceptional transports, port docks equipped with equipment capable of handling increasingly large and heavy loads, a growing trend towards modularization of industrial projects, more and more ro-ro and not just lo-lo loading, a gradual move towards assembly phases flush with the quayside or in any case close to ports, certainty and greater speed in obtaining permits for transport over 108 tonnes, ships suited to the growing demand for transport and offshore work, infrastructural conditions that allow greater use to be made of rail transport as well.
