Ligurian ports: good news from Loano, fierce controversy from Genoa

There is turmoil on the Ligurian marina front. The good news comes from Loano Marina, which has been chosen in the shortlist of the world’s ten most beautiful marinas in the 2019 ranking of the authoritative Yachting Pages. Bad news, on the other hand, from Genoa where controversy rages over the fate of the New Dock, the one where the Boat Show is held.

Loano’s awards and news
Let’s start with the good news, that of Loano Marina, which, with its 900 berths from 6 to 80 meters and a veritable “citadel” of the port, continues to reap awards, acclaim and certificates of merit. In addition to the aforementioned Yachting Pages certificate of excellence, the Marina di Loano has been awarded one of the most rigorous port excellence certifications by RINA.

The certification is called MaRINA Excellence 24 Plus, and to obtain it, one must meet the requirements of a panel of all major parameters that make a Marina excellent. The West Ligurian port has passed all the tests and thus today can boast of this coveted recognition. Also from RINA, Marina di Loano also obtained, first in Italy, recognition in the environmental field, the “Green” certification.

Onshore facilities are being expanded for the season, new restaurants are being added to the existing ones in what is being called a “food hall,” a new boat license school and the expansion of the ship chandler round out the offerings. Loano’s 2018 final numbers are all with a plus sign: + 15 percent of boats at berth, + 12 percent of boats in transit compared to 2017.

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The controversy over the Genoa Dock: what will happen?
The main party that has been awarded the renovation and use of the area of the current dock where the Genoa Boat Show is held, Amico & Co. has just presented a plan that it says:” Thanks to a whole series of investments that would affect the area where the Boat Show, by developing its shipbuilding and tourism potential, Genoa can become a true international hub for megayachts like La Ciotat in France or Barcelona.”

Specifically about the Dock, which as we shall see is the bone of contention, he says, “It is planned investment of up to 5 million, which in the first phase new facilities at sea would be created and those currently existing would be improved, while at a later stage the infrastructure on land would be created that could offer a welcome worthy of Genoa, for short or long periods“.

TAR may trigger the chaos that’s already there: 180 boaters thrown out
All good? Not at all! There is a question mark as big as a house to everything about the Dock, which is triggering fierce controversy. An appeal to the judiciary, which pits Amico & Co. against UCINA (organizer of the Boat Show), hangs over the concession, which provides for the allocation of 60 percent of the dock for 20 years to Amico and only 40 percent and for four years to the Boat Shows.

For now, those who have been affected are 180 other boaters who lost their berths in September 2018. Everything is now in the hands of the Tar, which must rule on March 27 after an appeal filed by Ucina. The paradox is that if the TAR were to agree with Ucina, its four-year concession would also lapse, and thus we would re-enter a phase of chaos.

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