Port of Ravenna, tender launched to remove the Orenburg Gazprom wreck

TRIESTE – The procedure to remove one of the three wrecks in the port of Ravenna has started.

A tender has been launched for the removal of the wreck of the Orenburg Gazprom, one of three abandoned wrecks in the Pialassa del Piombone area within the port. The operation has an overall value of around €9 million, including €2.5 million funded by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

The Orenburg Gazprom is one of three Russian-origin vessels that, for mostly bureaucratic reasons, were detained in the port in the 1980s and later abandoned by their owners as recovery was no longer economically viable. The ships were left in the Pialassa del Piombone and have deteriorated significantly over the years.
The project provides for the removal of the wreck and its transfer to an authorised facility for the recovery and disposal of materials. The operation is particularly complex. The vessel has no structural drawings or general arrangement plans, and conditions on board are not safe enough to allow inspections. For this reason, the removal plan will have to rely on technical estimates of the hull’s weight and characteristics, needed to define lifting methods, the equipment to be used, and the phases of transport and disposal.

The launch of the tender is among the first commitments made by Francesco Benevolo, recently appointed president of the Port System Authority of the Central and Northern Adriatic Sea, when he served as extraordinary commissioner last June. Benevolo underlined that, despite the technical difficulties, the start of the procedure is a concrete result and an important step for the port’s sustainability.
Maurizio Tattoli, Maritime Director for Emilia-Romagna and Commander of the Ravenna Harbour Master’s Office, stressed that removing the wreck will improve safety, environmental protection and the operability of the surrounding areas. The Coast Guard will follow the entire process, with particular attention to environmental aspects, to enable the recovery and redevelopment of the area for the benefit of the port community.