Not just ports and marinas: here’s where floating docks are being installed in Italy

More and more ports and marinas are deciding to renovate their operations with floating docks: more modern, flexible and sustainable. Ingemar is the world’s leading floating structure design company, which has contributed to the modernization of many in the Mediterranean and beyond. Its pontoons, however, are now often found outside of port facilities as well. Let’s see where and why these structures are used.

Floating dock increases berths

Ingemar’s core business is definitely ports, and the company has played a key role in the renovation of marinas such as Marina del Cavallino, Porto di Albarella and Porto di Palau, where fixed docks have been replaced by more flexible and sustainable floating solutions. Other marinas, such as Marina Arcipelago Toscano and Marina di Capitana, have benefited from strategic expansions that improve berth operations and the experience for boaters with new floating docks. In addition to ports and marinas, hospitality facilities, public agencies, and associations of various kinds also rely on floating docks to enhance their operations. The installations testify to the high versatility of these structures, which can be tailored to meet a wide variety of needs. Thanks to a floating structure, a landing place can be obtained, of course, but also (just to give a few examples) a heliport, a beach club or solarium area, an area to be used for sports or commercial activities, reception of guests via water, and events. What’s more, these are non-fixed structures, which can be moved and removed very easily, and lend themselves very well for this reason even to temporary (e.g., seasonal) activities. Hotel facilities that have chosen to install multifunctional floating structures include the Grand Hotel Dino on Lake Maggiore and the Hotel Hilton Molino Stucky in Venice have chosen multifunctional floating platforms to offer comfort and innovation, from solariums to helipads. Industrial and public sectors also benefit from Ingemar’s structure technology, as evidenced by the new landings installed to support the M.O.S.E. system in Venice and fishing boats in Gallipoli.

Eng. Sebastiano Pulina, Ingemar’s CEO, commented on the company’s new business prospects as follows, “These ‘non-traditional’ developments have further increased our usual commitments and have also entailed a major reorganization of internal resources, with the inclusion of new professional figures. Given the rapidly changing times and markets,” Pulina continued, “I believe that we could not have celebrated our important milestone of 45 years in business better and with greater satisfaction, and I am sure that these innovations will soon be joined by others, which are currently being studied and planned. Constant attention to the needs of each individual Client, resulting in answers of assured functionality and reliability is in our DNA. Thanks to high engineering capacity and new systems, we are now able to overcome the limits of the conventional and solve problems that, both dimensionally and functionally, were not even addressable a few years ago. We have many important projects under development, and we are confident that 2025 will be an even richer year of exciting achievements.”

• For more information ingemar.com