TRIESTE – In the near term the Venice Ro-Port Mos terminal could be heading for a new future. Mantovani Group, the parent company of the quay at the lagoon port of Fusina, has confirmed that talks are under way and that only one offer has been received: «Together with the advisors we are assessing the offer received; I can confirm it is from a foreign company, not an Italian one».
According to rumours, it seems certain that the offer did not come from Dubai, but beyond that it’s a blackout: no confirmation on who the interested party might be. The aim, the manager reassured, is to «clarify the underlying terms», while remaining tight-lipped for now. It does, however, look as if the conditions could be in place for Mantovani to sell and, again according to internal sources, an agreement to close the deal could be reached soon.

The sale of 97% of the shares in the Mantovani Group subsidiary is therefore close, and the quay—holding a concession for almost another forty years—would be able to continue operating in the Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax segment, with services mainly to Greece and Turkey.
The gap between the asking price and the bid would not be unbridgeable, although it is still under discussion. If management deems the deal workable, signatures could come before the end of February, if not sooner.

The Fusina area is attracting growing interest because, after the Clini-Passera decree—which effectively put an end to cruise ship calls at the Tronchetto passenger terminal—this is the zone identified by Venice’s port sector for the development of cruise activity. A strategic area, in short, on which the president of the Port System Authority, the newly appointed Matteo Gasparato, has said he wants to invest, also reassuring the port community. On 1 December, in fact, Gasparato confirmed that the intervention agenda includes the island of “Tresse 2”, restoring depths in the Vittorio Emanuele Canal to make use of the passenger terminal area, dredging at Malamocco-Marghera and the north canal terminal with two berths. All factors aimed at preserving the wealth of expertise and know-how built up over the years in Venice’s cruise sector.

Tomaso Borzomì