VENICE – The Port Network Authority of the Northern Adriatic Sea (Ports of Venice and Chioggia) reports an increase in traffic in the first half of 2021. The port of Venice sees an increase in total tonnage of 4.4%, that of Chioggia of 14.5%.
For Venice, the total cargo handled is 11.610.058 tons. The commercial sector is the driving force behind the recovery of the lagoon port with a growth of 9.6% (+611,553 tons) compared to the same period last year, offsetting the drops in the industrial and oil sectors. Examining the data in the period July 2020-June 2021 and comparing them with the same period of 2019-2020, a moderate decrease in traffic is noted (-2.2%). The latter figure is still affected by pre-pandemic traffic levels.
In particular, from January to June of this year, compared to the same period last year, the leading indicators see dry bulk, mining and foodstuffs gaining 455,307 tons (+17.5%), with positive performance of all types of freights and goods in packages. This excludes containers, which show a slower recovery than the other trade segments with a -3.3% (255,761 TEU).
Liquid bulk cargo also fell by 66,440 tons (down 1.6%), although oil products began to show an initial turnaround after a first two months of decline and should see growth in volumes in the second half of the year. General cargo reported an increase of 107,958 tons (up 2.4%). As expected, from January to June 2021, the number of cruise passengers, amounting to 8,984, almost cancelled in the same previous period by the pandemic, and ferry passengers, amounting to 19,284, returned to growth.
The port of Chioggia, with 530,743 tons, sees a 14.5% increase in traffic in the first half of the year. The leading sector is general cargo with an increase of 43,523 tons (+41.3%), followed by dry bulk with an increase of 18,816 tons ( +5.2%).
«Along with the many issues in which we are engaged and that concern accessibility, navigation safety and cruise, we will be focused on managing and organizing port operations in such a way as to make compatible the existing commercial and industrial port functions in Porto Marghera with the cruise one, to build the foundations that will allow us to better address the challenge of the attractiveness of the Veneto ports». So said the president of the Port Authority, Fulvio Lino Di Blasio, regarding the recent vicissitudes of the cruise sector in Venice.