TRIESTE – Fincantieri has completed the preparatory works at its Monfalcone shipyard needed to accommodate two new 800-tonne Goliath maxi-cranes, and has withdrawn its urgent interim application before the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The company no longer considers an emergency court intervention necessary, since the construction works are now formally completed. The hearing on the merits of the appeal against the municipality’s refusal to authorise night-time noise-limit derogations—requested to speed up the final stages of the works—has been postponed to a date yet to be set.
The new cranes will arrive in Monfalcone from the port of Chioggia, where they are being built at Cimolai Technology’s facilities: the first lift of the lattice boom of the first crane has been completed, and work is continuing at pace to complete the assembly of the second by spring. Once transferred by sea over the summer, these structures will enable the construction of cruise ships of up to 230,000 gross tonnes, the largest ever built at Fincantieri’s Italian shipyards. This infrastructure upgrade supports the group’s industrial strategy, backed by multi-year orders from international operators such as Carnival Corporation & plc.
The Municipality of Monfalcone commented on the legal case, stressing that Fincantieri’s withdrawal of the interim request confirms the lack of urgency initially claimed. In a note, the municipality described the company’s reconstruction as ‘pretextual’ and clarified that Fincantieri has not submitted any damages claim, limiting itself to requesting the annulment of the technical measure that had denied the noise derogation.
«The most important news is the withdrawal of the request for interim suspension,” the municipality said. “This shows the instrumental nature of the initial requests and the correctness of the administration’s actions, which is competent to grant noise derogations only where the legal requirements are met».
The same administration also stated that «it reserves the right to file a report with the competent authorities in response to the accusations made (via the press) and to the ‘pretextual’ version of events—artificially constructed and aimed solely at unjustly discrediting the administration in the Fincantieri matter».
While withdrawing the urgent request, Fincantieri is maintaining the appeal on the merits: if the TAR were to declare the municipal measure unlawful, the door could open to a possible damages claim for delays estimated in the millions of euros. The deployment of the maxi-cranes is a key element for the future production outlook of the Monfalcone plant, enabling the shipyard to take on ever larger orders and strengthening Italy’s capacity to build exceptionally large cruise ships. Full operational capability of the new lifting capacity is expected within 2026–27.
