The La Spezia Port Authority is a financially-autonomous public agency established by law in 1994 to coordinate and plan harbor activities in the Port of La Spezia. The Port of La Spezia port authority is also responsible for promoting and controlling harbor operations; maintaining the port's common areas and facilities; and to provide cost-effective services to the Port of La Spezia's customers.
The La Spezia Port Authority has recently completed a new Port Master Plan for the Port of La Spezia in cooperation with other government agencies. The plan covers the territory around the Port of La Spezia from Lerici to Portovenere. In addition to the traditional Port of La Spezia, the plan addresses passenger traffic, tourist and yachting, fishing, and the industrial and oil sectors. The Port of La Spezia Master Plan seeks assure environmental protection while also improving commercial traffic, enhancing intermodal transport, making the shipbuilding sector more internationally competitive, adding facilities to support tourism, building a new cruise terminal, and strengthening fishing and mussel farming.
The Port of La Spezia enjoys a deep natural harbor protected by peninsula to the west and mountains to the east. The outer 2.2 kilometer (1.4 mile) long dam at the mouth of the gulf provides tranquil waters and smooth approaches to anchorage points and the docks. Pilotage services are required for cargo vessels of over 500 tons both entering and leaving the Port of La Spezia.
The Port of La Spezia covers about 1500 hectares and contains 5.1 kilometers (3.2 miles) of docks, 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) of railway tracks, and 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) of roads. The Port of La Spezia can accommodate the latest generation container vessels with drafts to 14 meters (45.9 feet). Covered warehouses in the Port of La Spezia contain 3.2 acres. The Port of La Spezia contains two container terminals, three multi-purpose terminals, two oil terminals, a coal terminal, a terminal for liquefied petroleum gas, two cereal terminals, a terminal for alimentary oils, a bulk terminal, and two concrete terminals.
Mazzi Magazzini Group oversees several companies that work in the Port of La Spezia. The company specializes in loading and unloading goods, including containers, throughout the port and providing services for all port operations. The Mazzi Magazzini Group has about 2.5 thousand square meters (26.9 thousand square feet) of uncovered area and 1.8 thousand square meters (19.4 thousand square feet) of warehouses. They also provide supporting equipment that includes lift trucks and mobile cranes with capacity for up to 42 tons. Container Service Srl. Provides services for all Port of La Spezia operations including loading/unloading general cargo, locking/unlocking containers, and customs inspections.
In 2008, the Port of La Spezia handled more than 18.6 million tons of cargo and over 1.2 million TEUs of containerized cargo. This included 14.4 million tons of general cargo, 1.6 million tons of solid bulk, and 2.5 million tons of liquid bulk.
- Container terminals
The Port of La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT), owned by Contship Italia Group, covers a total area of over 27 hectares and can handle over 700 thousand TEUs per year. Located on the east side of the Gulf of La Spezia, surrounding mountains protect approaching vessels from heavy winds. The LSCT operates at the Fornelli Pier in the Port of La Spezia. The LSCT offers efficient container handling, integrated logistics services, and intermodal connections to rail and road transport. Intermodal connections are enhanced by this Port of La Spezia facility's proximity to the major rail and highway networks that link the industrialized areas of northern Italy and Europe.
The first container terminal in Italy to be under private management, the Port of La Spezia Container Terminal has a 1.4-kilometer (4.6 thousand foot) quay with alongside depth of 14 meters (45.9 feet). The LSCT has loading capacity for 20 thousand TEUs and contains 308 reefer points. In 2008, the Port of La Spezia's LSCT processed over a million TEUs of containerized cargo, and it anticipates handling 1.5 million TEUs in the coming years. This Port of La Spezia terminal is equipped with nine gantry cranes, including seven post-Panamax gantry cranes, eight rail-mounted yard cranes, ten rough terrain yard cranes, two mobile cranes with capacity for up to 100 tons, and 20 forklifts with capacity for up to 42 tons.
The Port of La Spezia operates a new retroport at Santo Stefano located about eight kilometers from La Spezia. The retroport area covers about 60 hectares and serves as a logistics platform for temporary storage of cargoes, container repairs, and automobile parking. The service center covers four hectares , and the logistics center covers 25 hectares. The retroport is connected with the Port of La Spezia and northern Italy by 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of rail.
Nora SpA is the inland depot in the Port of La Spezia for empty containers. Nora SpA offers repair and maintenance of containers (for leasing companies and shipping lines) and to all types of equipment. Located in S. Stefano Magra (Port of La Spezia), it operates a well-equipped area of 10 hectares, employing the most advanced machinery and technology for treatment of metal surfaces, repair, and stacking of containers.
- Bulk and breakbulk terminals
The multi-purpose Speter SpA terminal in the Port of La Spezia operates at the Garibaldi and Paita Piers. This Port of La Spezia terminal specializes in handling forest products, zirconium, iron silicon, iron and steel products, ores, cement, clay, coils, lead, copper, and containers. It has 600 meters (1968 feet) of quays with alongside depth of up to 12 meters (39.4 feet). It contains one hectare of closed warehouses and 5.3 hectares of open areas. The Port of La Spezia's Speter terminal is equipped with quay cranes with capacity for up to 35 tons, a 100-ton capacity mobile crane, and forklifts with capacity for up to 45 tons. Five on-dock rail tracks serve the terminal and link with the national rail network.
Compagnia Laboratori Portuali Srl. is a multi-purpose terminal at the Port of La Spezia's Artom Wharf that covers over five hectares and specializes in handling general cargoes, solid bulk, and containers. It contains 1.1 acres of covered warehouses and operates over 100 vehicles with capacity for from 3 to 45 tons of cargo. This Port of La Spezia terminal handles solid bulk cargoes, kaolin, chromite, clay, coal, iron silicon, feldspar, marble, cellulose, wood, scrap iron, pig iron, coils, carpenters' products, pipes, general cargoes, and live animals.
The Port of La Spezia's Malaspina Wharf is 200 meters (656.2 feet) long and is equipped with four 6-ton capacity cranes. Specializing in rolling stock, general goods, and packaged goods, this Port of La Spezia wharf contains a 1.6 thousand square meter (17.2 thousand square foot) covered warehouse.
The Port of La Spezia's Garibaldi Wharf offers three berths of 510 meters (1673 feet) on the west side and two berths of 360 meters (1181 feet) on the east side. The wharf is equipped with 13 cranes with capacity for from six to 12 tons. This Port of La Spezia wharf has silos with capacity for 30 thousand tons of cereals and 5.5 thousand tons of concrete. The Garibaldi Wharf specializes in handling solid bulk, forest products, cellulose, base ferrous metals, cereals, iron and steel, concrete, minerals, ferrosilicon, and general cargoes.
The Monfer SpA (Italian) in the Port of La Spezia handles cereals at the east side of Garibaldi Pier. Covering about 4.5 thousand square meters (48.4 thousand square feet), its quay has alongside depth of 11 meters (36.1 feet). These Port of La Spezia silos have capacity to store up to 30 thousand tons of cereals.
The Port of La Spezia's Silos Granari della Sicilia is located on the west side of the Paita Pier. Operated by Rolcim SpA (Italian) and covering about 760 square meters (8181 square feet), it unloads cement through a pumping station linked to the cement silo.
- Oil / Liquid terminals
Operating in the western Gulf of La Spezia, the 4.5-hectare Panigaglia Terminal specializes in imports of methane gas in the Port of La Spezia. Managed by the Snam Society of the Eni Group, this Port of La Spezia terminal has a 500-meter (1640-foot) jetty with alongside depth of ten meters (32.8 feet). Operating 24 hours per day, the Panigaglia Terminal in the Port of La Spezia can accommodate LNG tankers in all weather conditions. The terminal has two storage tanks for liquefied natural gas. The Port of La Spezia's Panigaglia Terminal has annual regasification capacity for 3.5 billion cubic meters (924.6 billion gallons) of gas. Arriving at the terminal in liquid form on gas tankers, the terminal converts the liquid to gas which is then injected into the national network. The terminal allows Italy to import gas from countries that are not connected to the national pipelines.
The Port of La Spezia has several energy-related terminals. The three-hectare Enel Port Terminal, located on the east side of the Port of La Spezia, handles liquid and dry fuels (fuel oils and coal). Its wharf is over 250 meters (820 feet) long and 200 meters (656.2 feet) wide, and it has alongside depth of 12 meters (39.4 feet). It can accommodate vessels to 85 thousand DWT. This Port of La Spezia terminal has capacity to discharge from 18- to 20-thousand tons of cargo.
The Port of La Spezia's Arcola Petrolifera (Italian) buoy terminal is located in the eastern gulf and handles refined and unrefined oil products. Capable of supporting oil tankers to 35 thousand DWT with drafts of up to 12 meters (39.4 feet), this Port of La Spezia terminal is linked directly by pipeline with the Arcola refinery.
- Ro/Ro terminals
The Terminal del Golfo, terminal operator for the Tarros Group (Italian) and other owners in the Port of La Spezia, specializes in container ships for lift-on/lift-off and roll-on/roll-off cargoes. The Tarros Group was created in Sardinia in 1963 to design and build their own roll-on/roll-off container vessels to replace the conventional ships used on the Sardinia route at the time. Since then, the Tarros Group has grown to be a leading Mediterranean multimodal operator in local and feeder services for deep-sea carriers. Today, the Tarros Group operates a container "door-to-door" business serving both Italy and other countries. Its commercial network extends to over 20 ports in the Mediterranean and more than 100 thousand TEUs per year.
The 4.2-hectare Terminal del Golfo is located in the eastern Port of La Spezia. With a 300-meter (984.2-foot) quay, the terminal also contains a 10 hectare passenger terminal. This Port of La Spezia terminal offers five roll-on/roll-off moorings and two lift-on/lift-off moorings with a 42-ton ship-to-shore crane and a 100-ton capacity Fantuzzi-Reggiane mobile crane. It has a wide range of forklifts, reach stackers, and other equipment. The Port of La Spezia's Terminal del Golfo has storage capacity for 7.5 thousand TEUs, and in 2008, the terminal handled about 160 thousand TEUs.
The Port of La Spezia's Paita Wharf is about 550 meters (1804 feet) long and has three berths, one of which handles roll-on/roll-off traffic. The cargoes handled at the Paita Wharf in the Port of La Spezia include non-ferrous metals, solid bulk, general goods, minerals, containers, fertilizers, cereals, concrete, vegetable oils, coal, and other bulk cargoes.
- Cruise terminals
The Port of La Spezia Cruise Facility is located in front of the Public Gardens (Italian) and near the city center, shopping areas, museums, restaurants, and the city's walking district. This Port of La Spezia is equipped with a floating pier.
- Rail and intermodal connections
The rail system is a vital part of the Port of La Spezia's logistics chain. Over the last several years, the Sistema Spezia has undergone several improvements that include new track lines, a double-track to link the port with the town station, tracks linking the Port of La Spezia's Ravano area and Fornelli Pier to the rail station at Migliarina, and tracks linking the port with S. Stefano Magra and the back areas Migliarina. These improvements have strengthened the Port of La Spezia's competitive intermodal position. Italy's national Trenitalia railroad shipped three million tons of cargo, including 300 thousand containers, in 2007.
Almost one-third of the cargo traffic in the Port of La Spezia moves by rail. The Stefano Magra Rail Terminal is located behind the Port of La Spezia. The terminal is an integral part of the Port of La Spezia logistics system, enhancing its competitive position in international markets. The intermodal platform at this terminal allows the port to reduce road traffic and links the Port of La Spezia with the Interporto CEPIM (Italian) in Parma through a shuttle service. The platform both reduces rail-handling costs and enhances infrastructure and logistic links between the Port of La Spezia and Verona.
- Port services
The Port of La Spezia's Muggiano Shipyard began operating in 1883 as Giorgio Henfrey and Company. The shipyard repaired ships that transported mineral ore for the Pertusola foundry in La Spezia. It has had several owners over the years. Until the early 1970s, the shipyard produced merchant ships. In 1975, it returned to its traditional naval activities, building vessels for Italy's Navy and the navies of other countries. Today, the Muggiano Shipyard in the Port of La Spezia builds submarines for the Italian Navy and superstructure for aircraft carriers. Current orders include upgrades and maintenance for several frigates, multi-purpose tugs, an oceanographic vessel for Chennai-India, and the world's largest 130-meter-long private mega-yacht.
The Port of La Spezia's San Marco Shipyard, in a protected position in the middle of the Gulf of La Spezia, covers 4.3 hectares. Adjacent to the commercial harbor, San Marco is capable of any kind of ship conversion for vessels to 80 thousand DWT and construction of vessels to 40 thousand DWT. This Port of La Spezia Shipyard has three piers of 220 and 100 meters (721.8 and 328.1 feet) and a floating dock. Today, the San Marco Shipyard is building chemical product tankers and sophisticated Fi-Fi tug boats.
The Port of La Spezia's Intermarine is a naval shipyard that designs and manufactures fiber-reinforced plastic marine craft. The Sarzana Shipyard near the Port of La Spezia is the company headquarters, research and development center, and main shipyard. Covering 7.6 hectares for the construction of large vessels, the shipyard made its name building sophisticated minehunters.
The Port of La Spezia's Navalmare SpA, located inside the Gulf of La Spezia, specializes in off-shore products like oil rigs, prefabricated ship sections, gas tankers, floating docks, container cranes, and unloading facilities for thermoelectric power stations.
Gruppo Ormeggiatori operates the mooring service in the Port of La Spezia. With a diverse fleet of working boats, the mooring service operates 24 hours per day throughout the year.
With compulsory pilotage for cargo boats over 500 gross tons, the Port of La Spezia's piloting service has been operating since 1902. The pilot service is available throughout the year in all weather conditions.
Rimorchiatori Riuniti Spezzini operates the tug service in the Port of La Spezia. It operates ten units (with up to 4500 Bhp) 24 hours a day throughout the year in all weather conditions.
Within the Port of La Spezia, Sepor handles industrial and naval decontamination and related waste treatment. It also operates Italy's first port plant that treats bilge and oily waters. Each day, Sepor collects food waste from ships and sterilizes it to destroy residual pathogens. Sepor also uses advanced ecological boats to treat seawater. Its fleet of 30 boats in the Port of La Spezia includes tugboats, barges, and ecological boats that operate throughout Italy.
There are eight popular marinas that complement the commercial Port of La Spezia. Porto Lotti has 500 berths for boats from 12 to 50 meters (39.4 to 164 feet) and 2.1 hectares of shoreside space. Marina technical staff provides mooring assistance and winter dry-docking.
The Marina del Fezzano (Italian) is located in a well-protected area in the heart of the Gulf of Spezia. Converted from an old naval shipyard, the marina has 250 berths with water and electricity. It offers a wide range of vessel repair services.
Navalmare Nautica (Italian) is popular with yachters. With capacity for 160 boats over 20 meters (65.6 feet), the marina has a floating pier and offers carpentry services for ships and boats.
The Port of La Spezia's Assonautica Marina is located at the Morin promenade. Covering 2.7 hectares of water surface, it offers a floating platform with toilets, a store room, an office, and a seawater station. Its 600 private berths are monitored on a 24-hour basis.
Centro Catamarani Italia specializes in service to multi-hulls, particularly catamarans. Its floating wharf is near the Morin promenade where visitors can find a sailing school, hire crew, and secure chartering services. Customers can hire catamarans that will show them the most beautiful areas on the peninsula. The boats are so popular that Catamarani Italia Srl. Was created to build and sell innovative catamarans of 10 and 13 meters (32.8 and 42.7 feet).
The Port of La Spezia is working on a new Tourist Port that will offer a variety of nautical services including accommodations, shipbuilding, and space for sports. The new marina will have 380 berths for large vessels and berths for over 1500 small boats. The Tourist Port in the Port of La Spezia will contain a hotel and a commercial area with bars, shops, restaurants, and a fitness club.
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