The Port System Authority of the Adriatic Sea Meridionale signed yesterday with the Bari-Brindisi Cruise Terminal the ten-year concession that assigns to the company, which makes part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) group, the management of state-owned areas and assets intended for cruise services in the ports of Bari and Brindisi. The concession concerns exclusively spaces and structures to support the reception of cruise passengers - terminals, ground services and parking areas - while the use of the operational docks remains public, as provided for by current legislation and under the control of the authorities Competent. In addition, Bari-Brindisi Cruise Terminal will have to manage the concession independently of the activity cruise ships, guaranteeing a level playing field for all companies that will call at the terminals.

The contract provides for the possibility of an extension of the period of the concession subject to submission by MSC of a project for the construction of a new terminal cruise in the Sant'Apollinare area of Brindisi, with a additional investment of about 2.3 million euros.

In the economic-financial plan presented by Bari-Brindisi Cruise Terminal, investments of at least 2.2 million are planned of euros in both ports. Investments will rise to 4.5 million euros if the extension of the concession, by virtue of the identification and development of of the cruise terminal in Sant'Apollinare. In Bari the most The interior spaces of the second cruise terminal, currently being completed by part of the Port Authority. In Brindisi, on the other hand, MSC is committed to restructuring and redevelop the cruise reception area at the quay of Costa Morena Est- North head and to present a project for the construction of the new terminal in correspondence with the construction landings of Sant'Apollinare. In both ports, it is planned, in addition, that MSC will take care of the arrangement of the areas of car park.

With the management of the Bari-Brindisi Cruise Terminal it is possible to An increase in cruise traffic is expected in both ports which is expected to be 232 in Bari and 84 in 2030 in Brindisi and then rise in 2034 to 254 and 104 respectively.