Maersk Line's disengagement from Gioia Tauro to further alarm the Calabrian port

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Today, the Port of Gioia Tauro Committee met in special session to address the crisis of traffic that is affecting the Calabrian port. The volume of traffic of the airport - as well as the continuing effects of economic recession and competition from other port transhipment hub - is also threatened by a decline in touch ships of the Danish Maersk Line, a corridor that has been carefully confirmed Wednesday by CEO Maersk Italy Spa, Todd Pigeon ( of 18 May 2011).

Pigeon has announced that the port of Genoa, where the headquarters of the Italian subsidiary of the Danish group, will be connected with Gioia Tauro is a feeder line.However, the manager was not unbalanced on the future of other routes that pass through the Maersk fleet Gioia Tauro has not clarified whether the disengagement of the company is total and irreversible. But the disengagement from Pigeon prefigured was perceived as abandonment by the unions after his meeting yesterday with Domenico Bagalà, the new CEO of Medcenter Container Terminal (MCT), the group company that manages the Contship Italy's Calabrian port container terminal. Bagalà confirmed the removal of vessels from Maersk Gioia Tauro.

So much is enough (more than the previous signs and confirmations) to further alarm the Calabrian port and was more than enough to the president of the Port Authority of Gioia Tauro, John Grimaldi, to highlight that "today's meeting was important to do particular point on the current situation that is our call, after receiving the news that Maersk will leave Gioia Tauro, to serve only in conjunction with a feeder from Genoa. "

"The ports of transhipment - noted Grimaldi - are undergoing a transformation clear, so we must consider new initiatives to ensure that they no longer attacked by the ports of North Africa, which are actually more favorable than the European port. Moreover, it is a problem not only Italian, but that involves the whole of Europe. No coincidence that Spain is experiencing a condition similar to ours. You must, therefore, that the Port Committee, the Regional Government and the critical mass to make a deal with a crisis that now has become structural. Against which we can not think of a solution only through the resources of the Port Authority. "

Tenor equally concerned about the activities of trade union representatives.

"Today's meeting - said Salvatore La Rocca di FILT-CGIL - arises from a previous request made by the CGIL and accepted fully by the President and Vice-President George Stasi. Today's meeting, however, has placed us in front of another rock represented by the official announcement of the abandonment of Maersk. This is a flight that endangers about 35% of direct redundancies, with devastating effects sull'indotto.We asked for specific commitments at all because the unions can discuss and share targets with the terminals and the region as long as there is a shared plan of recovery. In this regard, the vice president Stasi gave immediate availability for a meeting with the MCT and soon after with the social partners. At the same time we requested a meeting with the government because you need attention, as well as of the regional, even national level. It is therefore clear that if there were no serious action to get out of this phase, the port of Gioia Tauro will not have a future. "

Antonio Seals Fit-Cisl stressed that "the revival of Gioia Tauro, which can not only be connected to the port of transshipment. We must - he said - pointing to the dry port so that we can open the containers and working the merchandise. Otherwise there is no future for Gioia Tauro. This is no longer the port 15 years ago when it was enough to move the container to be at the center of the field. The airport has too many low-cost competitors that do not allow MCT to be competitive. With the new managing director, Domenico Bagalà, who called us yesterday, we are working on a line bet on the growth of logistics.It is thus clear that without the dry port and logistics, Gioia Tauro will have no future because the only trashipment would lead to the closure of the airport. We must therefore work together to create a new concept of port for the good of the entire land area. "

"At last - said Daniel Caratozzolo the AT - it seems that you are going to become operational. This week there will be a meeting between Region and MCT, and subsequently with the social partners. We need to move from theory to practice to see what used to take off the terminal but not the port of Gioia Tauro, and therefore also the inner harbor and all activities related to logistics, dry port, rail gateway, import and export. In this difficult time for the MCT, Maersk officially leaves by mid-July, the port of Gioia Tauro. That, in short, a decrease of movement and therefore redundancy of staff. On this we must think together to not get to unpleasant things. We have an open stage for discussion on social safety nets, but if we stand against a wall to get to layoffs. I think you have to put in the middle only to workers and businesses. In this regard, then, if the port must be open to new terminal operators must find new space to offer, so in order to move staff from one place to another. "

"With today - has agreed to Francesco Gaetano Ugl Transportation - starts a test for the port of Gioia Tauro in that, following the announcement of the final abandonment of Maersk, are likely to open tough scenarios. We are very concerned about the future of this port. In the meeting today we asked the Vice-President Antonio Stasi clear commitments to ensure that our port of call to return to the excellent results of a time when he was the leader of the international trade of the Mediterranean. It is obvious that new strategies and resources needed to identify new potential customers. And it is natural that logistics would give a nice shot in the arm to move forward. I believe in the institution and the chairman of the Port Authority that manages to create synergy with the region to find the right powers with the aim of achieving results for the benefit of workers.